US open: Stocks a little weaker as investors keep an eye on oil

US stocks edged lower in early trade, pulling back from the record highs hit last week, with oil prices firmly in focus ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday.

At 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both down 0.3%, while the Nasdaq was off 0.2%.

Meanwhile, oil prices were higher, bouncing back from the heavy losses suffered after Saudi Arabia said on Friday that it wouldn’t meet with non-OPEC Russia ahead of the OPEC summit in Vienna as originally planned.

The meeting was called off after Saudi Arabia, which is the world’s largest oil producer, said it wouldn’t attend unless there was “a clear decision from OPEC” on production cuts.

West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 2.2% to $47.09 barrel and $48.28, respectively, as investors eyed Wednesday’s OPEC meeting, with sentiment getting a boost after Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi said he was “optimistic” OPEC would reach an agreement that is acceptable to all this week.

CMC Markets said: “Overall, it looks like the Saudis are prepared to cut but want Russia, Iran and Iraq to cut as well not just freeze production. For the last several months Oil has been trading in a $40-50 range. Currently it’s sitting near the middle but whether we end up with a deal or not could send oil to one end of the range or the other later in the week.”

In currency markets, the dollar mostly eased back against its rivals, taking a breather after hitting 13-year highs last week, as investors booked some profits ahead of a data-packed week. The greenback was 0.5% firmer against the pound, but flat versus the euro and 0.7% lower against the yen.

In corporate news, Time Inc surged following reports the publisher has rejected a takeover bid from billionaire investor Edgar Bronfman Jr.

Schlumberger was a touch weaker after the oil driller signed a preliminary deal to study an Iranian oil field, while bookseller Barnes & Noble was on the back foot after announcing a 15% discount on online orders as part of Cyber Monday.

Samsung Electronics bucked the trend following reports it is considering splitting into two companies.

There are no US data releases of note due on Monday.