NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened higher on Monday as the threat of an escalation in Ukraine appeared to lessen and the latest flurry of merger action supported equities.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 69.55 points or 0.42 percent, to 16,732.46, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 7.74 points or 0.4 percent, to 1,962.8 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 24.30 points or 0.54 percent, to 4,489.23.
(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
