NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock futures are drifting lower Monday, after major indexes ended last week at record highs. Family Dollar’s stock jumped following news that investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in the company.
KEEPING SCORE: A half hour before the market opened, Dow Jones industrial average futures slipped 13 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,919.
Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell two points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,947 while Nasdaq 100 futures sank three points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,796.
On Friday, the S&P 500 index notched another record high, its eighth in 10 trading days. The index notched its third straight week of solid gains.
TYSON WINS: Tyson Foods emerged as the winner in a bidding war for Hillshire Brands, beating an offer by Pilgrim’s Pride for the meat-processing company. Tyson raised its offer to $63 a share, beating Pilgrim’s Pride’s offer of $55 a share. Hillshire said Monday that its board has yet to sign off on the deal. In premarket trading, Hillshire Brands jumped $4.90 to $61.81, while Tyson Foods slipped 5 cents to $40.10.
ICAHN: In a regulatory filing on Friday, Carl Icahn said he and his affiliates have picked up a 9 percent stake in Family Dollar, a discount store, and plan to look for changes to boost the company’s value. Family Dollar’s stock jumped $7, or 12 percent, to $67.52.
MERGER MONDAY: Merck announced a deal to buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals for $3.85 billion. Merck & Co. said Indenix has built a promising array of treatments for hepatitis C. Indenix soared $16.97, or 234 percent, to $24.20, while Merck sank 78 cents to $57.40.
BONDS AND COMMODS: In the market for U.S. government bonds, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 2.60 percent from 2.59 percent late Friday. Yields rise when bond prices fall. The price of oil rose 87 cents to $103.53 a barrel.
– AP
