Monday is throwing a bit of water on the embers of last week’s fireworks.
The market opened lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average starting about 60 points down. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were also around 0.3% lower.
Today’s soft start comes after a record-setting close to last week that saw Dow finish above 17,000 for the first time ever.
Here are some watch throughout today’s trading:
1. The Return of King: King Digital, the company behind the viral monster Candy Crush, has finally opened above its IPO price more than three months after it started trading. Shares on that disastrous first day dropped more than 15%. The stock is around 3% higher in early trading and, most importantly, finally opened above the IPO price of $22.50.
2. Expedia stock ascending: Expedia’s stock is slightly lower after it announced yesterday that it bought Australian travel website Wotif.com for $658 million. Australia-listed shares in Wotif, which operates throughout Southeast Asia, rose 25% on the news. Expedia is trading at an all-time high of around $82. Several analysts have recently upgraded the stocks price target to above $90.
3. Other juicy acquisitions: Archer Daniels Midland, a big food and commodities company, purchased Wild Flavors for about $3.1 billion. Wild makes the popular Capri Sun juices, among other things. ADM’s stock is flat in early trading.
4. Overseas markets: European stocks are down in afternoon trading, with the FTSE 100 down about 0.5%. Asian stocks ended the day in mixed territory, though India’s Sensex gained 0.5%.
