Stocks opened slightly positive Monday as investors grew less jittery about the situation in Dubai and a big merger deal helped juice the energy sector.
ExxonMobil announced plans to acquire XTO Energy in an all-stock deal valued at $31 billion.
While the deal hit ExxonMobil shares it boosted XTO as well as the SPDR Energy ETF, which gained more than 1.5 percent in early trading.
Investors also cheered news that Abu Dhabi would provide $10 billion of surprise aidto debt-burdened neighbor Dubai.
In financial news, Citigroup is reportely close to a deal to repay over $10 billion of its loan from the government.
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley said on Sunday that it has hired former Merrill Lynch operating chief Gregory Fleming to run its investment management unit.
Britain's Cadbury said it has interest from other bidders after raising its growth targets and reporting upbeat trading as it dismissed a $16.5 billion bid from Kraft Foods .
Google announced plans to sell its own mobile phone direct to consumers as soon as next year, bypassing wireless operators in a rare strategic move, the Wall Street Journal cited sources as saying on Saturday.
Amazon.com shares slipped after Barron's praises the company's operations but said its stock was too pricey.
Visa shares jumped after Robert W. Baird upgraded the company's stock to "outperform" from "neutral."
