Wall St opens higher as Ukraine tensions ease

The latest flurry of merger action also supported the equities

US 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 rose 69.55 points or 0.42%, to 16,732.46, the S&P 500 gained 7.74 points or 0.4%, to 1,962.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 24.30 points or 0.54%, to 4,489.23.