(MENAFN- AFP) Wall Street traded slightly lower on Monday morning with major drugmakers down following the announcement that Pfizer would buy the cancer drugmaker Medivation for $14 billion.
A half-hour into the morning's trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 percent at 18.490.15.
The broader S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent at 2,177.71 and the Nasdaq, where Medivation is listed, lost 0.1 percent at 5,231.47.
Markets were awaiting signals on US interest rate policy from this week's monetary symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at which Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will delivery a closely watched address.
Shares in Medivation were up nearly 20 percent at $80.45 after Pfizer offered $81.50 a share for the company.
The deal will allow the New York-based Pfizer to market the prostate cancer medication Xtandi. Investors have focused on cancer drugs as they are among the most dependable sources of revenue for drug makers.
Tesoro, another comparably sized cancer drug maker listed on the Nasdaq, was also higher, at 3 percent above Friday's close.
Other major drugmakers were split, with Johnson & Johnson down 0.6 percent but Merck & Co up 0.2 percent.
The Texas gas station and convenience store operator CST Brands Inc rose 0.1 percent on the announcement of a deal to be purchased by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc for $4.4 billion.
With crude prices falling at the start of the week, oil company stocks were likewise lower, with Chevron and Exxon Mobil both trading 0.7 percent lower and ConocoPhillips off 0.8 percent.
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