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U.S. stocks open mixed on chemical giants' potential merger

Xinhua, December 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened mixed Wednesday as oil prices stabilized after two days of selloff and investors were cheered by a potential merger of two chemical giants.

Dow Chemical and DuPont are in talks to combine, in what would be one of the largest transactions in a year full of huge deals, Wall Street Journal reported. Shares of the two companies jumped more than 10 percent in the early session Wednesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rebounded 1.25 percent in the early trading, and Brent crude for January delivery also rose 0.92 percent.

Oil prices fell Tuesday as market expected that global supplies will continue to exceed demand. The declining crude prices knocked down shares of major oil companies.

Oil prices closed near seven-year lows Monday after the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last Friday to keep crude production pumping at current level in an already oversupplied market.

In Asia markets, Tokyo stocks lost ground following a disappointing showing overnight on U.S. and European bourses over concerns for the global economic recovery, and robust machinery orders data here failed to lift the market mood.

China's stocks closed mixed, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.07 percent. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, dipped 0.88 percent.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20.07 points, or 0.11 percent, to 17,588.07. The S&P 500 lost 1.83 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,061.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 16.92 points, or 0.33 percent, to 5,081.32.

U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, as weak commodities prices continued to weigh on market. Endi