NEW YORK - US stock indexes opened flat Monday as investors focused on corporate earnings and merger news, as Bank of America announced a 21-billion-dollar takeover offer for LaSalle Bank Corporation.
Bank of America intends to buy LaSalle from Dutch bank ABN Amro as part of ABN Amro's merger agreement with Britain's Barclays bank.
The leading Dow Jones Industrial Average index was down a slim 0.81 points (0.01 percent) at 12,961.17 in opening trades, after closing at a record high of 12,961.98 points on Friday following an upbeat trading week.
The tech-rich Nasdaq composite had fallen 0.51 points (0.02 percent) to 2,525.88 and the broad-market Standard and Poor's was 0.39 points (0.03) percent lower at 1,483.96.
If the LaSalle deal is successful, it would enlarge Bank of America's US footprint considerably and threaten Citigroup's position as the US' biggest financial group.
Traders said investors would also continue focusing on fresh corporate earnings reports in coming days as well as economic news including updates on home sales.
04/23/2007 13:37 GMT