NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened flat on Monday after higher oil prices offset a move by Kuwait to end a proposed $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with Dow Chemical , a move that could hurt the company's plans to buy Rohm & Haas .
* Oil prices rose to more than $40 per barrel, while the price of gold also surged as Israeli warplanes hit the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for a third day and Israel prepared to launch a possible invasion.
*The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 2.95 points, or 0.03 percent, at 8,512.60. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.49 points, or 0.06 percent, at 872.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 1.27 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,528.97.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
