General Electric bought an initial chunk of a 20 percent stake in NBC Universal from Vivendi for $2 billion, the French conglomerate said. Vivendi added it would sell its remaining 12.34 percent in the media group after the approval of Comcast's takeover of NBC Universal. CNBC is a unit of NBC.
And over the weekend, Comcast announced that Chief Operating Officer Steve Burke would take the top job at NBC Universal when the deal closes.
Coca-Cola rose after the beverage giant won approval from the U.S. and Canada to buy the North American operations of its largest bottler on the condition that it safeguards rival Dr Pepper Snapple's confidential business information. The next step would be for shareholders of the bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises , to approve the deal in a vote scheduled for Oct 1.
Shares of Best Buy rose slightly after a report in Barron's that the stock is still cheap, and that the electronics retailer has done a good of job of exploiting new products and adding market share.
Sanofi-Aventis, meanwhile, was searching for more financing toward its $18.5 billion bid for Genzyme .
Financial stocks mostly dipped as concern remains about the health of Europe's banking sector.
Earlier, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the unguaranteed senior debt of Anglo Irish bank, triggering concern among some investors about the health of European debt. While the euro fell against the dollar, Spar at Stifel Nicolaus said the move was minimal and was not likely to be affecting U.S. stocks.
In addition, Susquehanna cuts its third quarter views for Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , Bank of America , PNC and Citigroup , citing weak underwriting and trading volumes.
Meanwhile, the government may miss its deadlineto sell all of its Citigroup shares by the end of the year. As a result, the Treasury may have to offer shares to the public from its 17 percent stake instead of selling small quantities of stock in the market, bankers and analysts said.
M&T Bank was the worst performing stock on the S&P 500 Index, after news the bank's efforts to buy Banco Santander have stalled.
Also, global stock underwriting proceeds fell 9 percentso far in 2010 to $496.14 billion for far this year from $544.96 billion. The number of deals, however, rose 5.6 percent to 2,817 deals compared with a year earlier as banks have been willing to underwrite smaller offerings. JPMorgan was the top underwriter.
In technology news, advance orders for the Apple iPhone 4 exceeded 200,000 in China, after the handset launched on Saturday, according to China Unicom. The tech company also got a boost after Canaccord Genuity raised its price target for Apple to $366 from $356.
Oracle shares were flat after Barclays raised its price target on the firm to $34 from $31. And HP advanced after Gleacher & Co resumed its coverage of the firm with a "buy" rating.
Baidu shares climbed after Pacific Crest lifted its price target on the Chinese search engine giant to $140 from $80.
NetApp shares slid after JPMorgan removed the data storage company from its focus list, and raised its price target for the company to $58 a share from $49.
Sprint Nextel rose after UBS recommended the telecom giant as a "short-term buy."
On the energy front, Harvest Natural Resources shares advanced after the indepdendent energy company said it would consider a sale or merger.
Also, Gulf Resources gained after the company said it would buy back $10 million in stock.
Progress Energy shares were briefly halted after triggering a single-stock circuit breaker. A spokesman for Progress Energy said the company was looking into the matter.
JB Hunt fell after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the trucking and transportation company to "neutral" from "buy."
Meanwhile, Treasury prices rose after the government auctioned $36 billion of 2-year notesat the lowest yields on record at 0.441 percent.
Auctions of 5-year notes and 7-year notes are expected on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Gold powered to a record high near $1,300 an ounceas investors poured cash into the market on worries about global economic health. Meanwhile, oil fell below $76 a barrel.
Monday's market action probably reflected profit taking ahead of the end of the third quarter on Thursday, and before Friday's economic data on personal income and personal consumption, and manufacturing, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners.
Cardillo is also waiting for Tuesday's reading on consumer confidence. A positive number, combined with window dressing by portfolio managers before the third quarter ends Thursday, could move stock prices higher, he said.
In the day's economic news, about 70 percent of respondents to a CNBC survey said the Federal Reserve will begin quantitative easing,while 80 of those believe the easing will start before the end of the year. The economists, strategists and fund managers surveyed say the Fed will boost its balance sheet by about half a trillion dollars over a six-month period, beginning in November.
Several initial public offerings are due this week, including one from Liberty Mutual Agency, an insurance group that plans to offer 64 million shares between $18-$20 per share, in what could be the biggest IPO of the year.
On Tap For This Week:
MONDAY: Schapiro, Breeden, Pitt on future of SEC
TUESDAY: S&P/Case-Shiller home price index; Richmond Fed survey; consumer confidence index; 5-year note auction; Atlanta Fed Pres Lockhart speaks; Barnes & Noble shareholder meeting; HP analyst meeting
WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications; oil inventories; Minneapolis Fed Pres Kockerlakota speaks; Philadelphia Fed Pres Plosser speaks; Boston Fed Pres Rosengren speaks; 7-year note auction
THURSDAY: Reading on GDP; Weekly jobless claims; Corporate profits; Chicago PMI; Hearing on J&J recalls
FRIDAY: Personal spending; NY Fed Pres Dudley speaks; Consumer sentiment; ISM manufacturing index; Construction spending; Monthly auto sales; BP's Hayward steps down
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