By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened mostly higher on Monday, shrugging off more hawkish talk from the Federal Reserve as well as rhetoric from Europe that seemed to point to a further intensification of the military and economic struggle there.
By 9:45 AM ET (1345 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 22 points, or less than 0.1%, at 34,734 points. The broader-based S&P 500 was up 0.3%, however, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2%. All three indices had had their best week in several months last week amid rising hopes for a quick end to the war in Ukraine.
The Dow underperformed in part due to its heavy weighting of Boeing (NYSE:BA) stock, which fell 5.9% after one of its 737-800 NG aircraft, operated by China Eastern Airlines (NYSE:CEA), crashed during a domestic flight with the loss of 132 lives.
The 737-800 NG has had an excellent safety record over the last two decades, which may allay concerns that the flaws of the 737 MAX have somehow reappeared in a different guise.
Another stock heading lower was Shopify (TSX:SHOP) Inc (NYSE:SHOP), which fell 14% after a raft of broker downgrades on Friday followed its underwhelming quarterly results and guidance earlier in the week. Shopify stock, like many growth names that performed well in the early stages of the pandemic, has lost nearly two-thirds of its value since November, as the Federal Reserve and other central banks have belatedly moved to tighten monetary policy.
Earlier, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic had appeared to temper his previous hawkishness, with a nod to the economic uncertainty created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has sent energy prices spiraling higher across the world. Bostic said in a speech that: " The elevated levels of uncertainty are front forward in my mind and have tempered my confidence that an extremely aggressive rate path is appropriate today.”
Early outperformers included conglomerate Alleghany (NYSE:Y), after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) offered to buy it for $11.6 billion, a deal that will add to Berkshire's insurance portfolio, among other things.
Merger and acquisition activity was also behind the 25% rise in Anaplan (NYSE:PLAN) stock. The software company had agreed to sell itself to private equity group Thoma Bravo for $10.7 billion.
Oil and gas stocks were also supported by a fresh rise in crude prices, after the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said the EU is looking at expanding its current sanctions package on Russia to include energy purchases. The bloc's leaders are due to meet on Thursday with U.S. President Joe Biden in an effort to find ways to increase the pressure on Russia, which has intensified and expanded its artillery attacks across Ukraine over the weekend, and which downplayed reports of progress in peace talks earlier Monday.
Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) stock was up 9.7%, while Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) stock was up 2.8% and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) stock was up 1.2%.
Among small caps, Vallon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VLON) stock fell 71% after it reported disappointing trial results for Adair, the experimental drug for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that accounted for most of its value.