U.S. stocks ticked mostly lower after Monday's opening bell, giving back a slice of last week's big gains as the euro renewed its descent against the U.S. dollar. Today’s Markets As of 9:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25.13 points, or 0.123%, to 11355.60, the Standard & Poor's 500 slid 3.55 points, 0.29%, to 1221.16 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.91 points, or 0.08%, to 2589.45. The FOX 50 dropped 1.39 points, or 0.16%, to 873.16. The early negative trend underscores the continued focus on Wall Street on the euro, which came under pressure by more concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Last week the Dow surged nearly 300 points and ended at three-week highs amid mostly stronger-than-expected economic headlines and calmer European markets. Without any major economic or earnings reports on the domestic front, traders on Monday took their early cues from the currency markets. The euro slid 0.86% to $1.3265 on reports that Germany, the euro zone's most influential member, opposes increasing the size of the $1 trillion bailout fund and is against the creation of euro zone bonds. Concerns about sovereign debt were also heightened after Moody's slashed its credit rating on Hungary by two notches. The euro has been rocked by the European sovereign debt crisis, which has already resulted in the bailouts of Greece and Ireland. A weaker euro and stronger dollar is seen as bearish for U.S. stocks because it weighs on commodities and exports. Wall Street had a muted reaction to the "60 Minutes" interview of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the central bank is open to more stimulus measures if inflation remains tame and the economy needs it. In the commodities complex, crude oil looked to hit fresh two-year highs, rising 5 cents a barrel, or 0.07%, to $89.24. Gold jumped $9.50 a troy ounce, or 0.68%, to $1,415.70. Corporate Movers Pfizer (PFE: 16.93 ,+0.21 ,+1.26%) surprised Wall Street by saying CEO Jeffrey Kindler is resigning from the world’s largest drug maker after 4 ½ years on the job. Kindler, who cited fatigue, will be replaced by Pfizer veteran Ian Read. Pfizer plans to name a nonexecutive chairman within the next two weeks. AOL (AOL: 25.38 ,+0.20 ,+0.79%) is considering breaking itself up through a complicated series of moves leading to a potential merger with Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), Reuters reported. However, the plans are still in an exploratory stage and Yahoo! hasn’t been contacted, the wire service report. It would also be highly complicated with a number of moving pieces. Google’s (GOOG: 578.04 ,+4.05 ,+0.71%) $6 billion quest to acquire local deals site Groupon has collapsed, The Wall Street Journal reported. The two sides broke off talks as Groupon’s board was divided on whether to accept the bid. The deal would have easily been Google’s largest acquisition ever. Massey Energy (MEE: 51.49 ,+1.10 ,+2.18%) CEO Don Blankenship surprised shareholders by announcing plans to retire at the end of the year, making a sale of the embattled coal company more likely, the Journal reported. Blankenship had been seen as opposing the proposed sale of Massey to rival Alpha Natural Resources (ANR: 54.49 ,+0.25 ,+0.46%). Kellogg (K: 49.36 ,-0.15 ,-0.30%) CEO David Mackay announced plans to resign at the end of the year. The cereal maker said John Bryant, the chief operating officer, will replace Mackay. Kellogg also reaffirmed its 2010 and 2011 financial guidance. Dollar General (DG: 31.03 ,-2.48 ,-7.40%) slid 6% even after reporting a stronger-than-expected 69% rise in third-quarter profits and EPS of 39 cents. The discounter also upped its full-year EPS view to $1.78 to $1.81, compared with the Street’s view of $1.78. Global Markets The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.25% to 5759.78, France's CAC 40 lost 0.43% to 3734.44 and Germany's DAX slipped 0.03% to 6945.77. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.11% to 10167.20, Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.36% to 23237.70 and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.52% to 2857.18.

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