Investing.com - U.S. stocks were little changed on Monday, as trading volumes were expected to remain thin with no major U.S. economic reports to be released throughout the session, while Friday's jobs report still lent some support.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 inched 0.02% higher, the S&P 500 eased up 0.02%, while the NASDAQ Composite dipped 0.06%.
On Friday, the Department of Labor reported that the U.S. economy added 217,000 jobs last month, just under expectations for jobs growth of 218,000, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a five-and-a-half year low of 6.3%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) gained 0.44% after diving over 85% at the end of the previous session as the tech giant was preparing for its 7-for-1 stock split scheduled after the close of the trading day on Friday.
In the telecom sector, Sprint (NYSE:S) jumped 1.11% even as top U.S. antitrust and communications enforcers warned that the wireless market is too concentrated after the company agreed last week to pay about $40 per share, or over $32 billion, for T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS).
In other news, Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), up 0.35% at the open of the U.S. trading session, continued to make headlines after President Bill Simon said in a statement that the company "will take full responsibility" if authorities determine its truck caused an accident involving comedian Tracy Morgan over the weekend.
A Wal-Mart truck driver was charged with death by auto and four counts of assault by auto in connection with the Saturday morning accident that critically injured actor Tracy Morgan and killed a fellow comedian.
On the downside, Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) plummeted 1.37% after the meat producer said it brokered a "unilaterally binding offer" to acquire Hillshire Brands (NYSE:HSH) for $8.55 billion, inlcuding debt. Hillshire surged 4.70% following the news.
Merck & Company (NYSE:MRK) dropped 0.97% after agreeing to acquire Idenix Pharmaceuticals in a deal valued at $3.85 billion.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to higher. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 added 0.09%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.03%, Germany's DAX edged up 0.07%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.18%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.73%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.31%.