NEW YORK (AP) – Stock indexes were edging lower in early trading Monday as investors worked through several company announcements. Global markets were modestly higher.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 48 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,748 as of 10:55 a.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down five points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,066 and the Nasdaq composite edged down 16 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,896.
FIRST CLASS: Virgin America jumped $15.70, or 40 percent, to $54.61 after the company agreed to be bought by Alaska Air Group. Shares of Alaska Air fell $4.00, or 5 percent, to $77.96. JetBlue, which had bid for Virgin as well, fell 40 cents, or 2 percent, to $20.87.
IT’S ELECTRIC: Tesla Motors rose $9.88, or 4 percent, to $247.37 after the company announced it had received 276,000 preorders for its highly anticipated Model 3, which is to be unveiled on Thursday.
OVERSEAS: European stocks were modestly higher. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2 percent, France’s CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.4 percent.