NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks are slipping Monday morning as the price of oil falls and drags energy companies lower. Hotel chains Starwood and Marriott are rising again as Marriott and Chinese insurance company Anbang Insurance Group continue to try to buy Starwood.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 14 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,501 as of 10:58 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell two points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,034. The Nasdaq composite index sank 10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,763.
ALL STARWOOD: The bidding for the Starwood Hotel chain continued as a group of investors led by China’s Anbang Insurance Group offered to buy the company for $88.66 a share, or more than $15 billion. Starwood said the offer looks better than the latest bid from rival Marriott. Starwood added $1.98, or 2.4 percent, to $84.11 and Marriott gained $2.92, or 4.3 percent, to $71.57.
NO TO NOBLE: Noble Energy is slumping after Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a deal that would have given Noble and other companies the right to start pumping natural gas from offshore deposits. The stock shed $2.34, or 7.2 percent, to $30.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 40 cents, or 1 percent, to $39.06 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 63 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $40.40 a barrel in London. The price of heating oil fell almost 2 percent to $1.17 a gallon.
Devon Energy gave up 90 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $25.57 and Marathon Oil declined 31 cents, or 3 percent, to $9.98.
PANDORA’S BOX: Pandora is skidding after the streaming music company announced a management shakeup. Co-founder Tim Westergren will replace Brian McAndrews as CEO. The stock tumbled 98 cents, or 9 percent, to $9.95.
MAKING UP: Cosmetics giant Avon Products said it reached a deal with activist investors that headed off a possible proxy fight. Avon named Cathy Ross, a former executive with FedEx Express, to its board through an agreement with Barington Capital. Avon stock rose 30 cents, or 7 percent, to $4.58.
SUPER BOX OFFICE: Time Warner climbed after a strong opening weekend for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Despite weak reviews from critics and some skepticism from fans, the movie brought in about $424 million worldwide, including $170 million in the U.S. That was one of the best opening weekends of all time and a good sign for Time Warner’s planned series of movies based on DC Comics characters.
Time Warner rose $1.58, or 2.3 percent, to $71.59.
RELIEF: Gilead Sciences rose $2.06, or 2.3 percent, to $93.38. On Friday a jury ordered Gilead to pay $200 million to rival Merck in a dispute over the patents protecting hepatitis C drugs. Merck had sought billions of dollars in damages.
CONSUMER SPENDING: The Commerce Department said consumer spending continued to grow in February, but for the third straight month, it rose by a small amount. Still, economists think consumer spending will grow at a faster pace as the year progresses.
OVERSEAS: Asian stocks were mostly lower Monday after Chinese industrial profits rebounded and U.S. economic growth was stronger than expected. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7 percent. Seoul’s Kospi edged down 0.1 percent. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 percent. European markets were closed for the Easter holiday.
CHINESE PROFITS: Profits at major Chinese industrial companies rose 4.8 percent in January and February, the first gain since September 2014. The National Bureau of Statistics cited stronger sales and a slower decline in producer prices that have fallen steadily for three years.
U.S. PROFITS: Business economists in the U.S. became more pessimistic about corporate profit growth, however. Economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics now think profits will grow two percent this year, down from five percent in December.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: Bond prices increased and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note dipped to 1.88 percent from 1.91 percent. The euro rose to $1.1208 from $1.1177 late Thursday. The dollar rose to 113.28 yen from 112.81 yen