12:30 AM ET – European Markets Close

European stocks advanced Monday, lifted by telecom-consolidation news and a deal involving Linde and BOC Group. However, averages finished off intraday highs, reflecting weakness on Wall Street. The German DAX 30 rose 0.6%, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.4%, and London’s FTSE 100 closed up 0.7% after hitting a fresh four-year high.

11:30 AM ET - Market and Earnings

AT&T was the biggest decliner within the Dow Jones. AT&T fell about 1.3%.

3M (MMM: chart) was another notable loser. The stock dropped 1%, reaching a one-month low. Honeywell International (HON: chart) also traded lower by about 1%.

General Motors (GM: chart) was the leading gainer among the dow components Monday morning. The stock climbed by about 3.2%. Another notable upside mover was Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart), up about 0.9%.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 6.48, or 0.06%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 0.07, or 0.01%, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.79, or 0.21%.

10:30 AM ET - Market Movers

Research In Motion (RIMM: chart) stood out among gainers in the early going after it announced a deal to settle its patent dispute with NTP. The gains came despite lowered guidance from the company. Shares of the maker of the popular BlackBerry wireless device rose 13%.

Redback Networks (RBAK: chart) was a notable mover to the downside in early morning with a slide of 13%. The stock fell on an analyst''s downgrade and concerns that consolidation in the telecom space could lead to fewer customers.

9:45 AM ET - Market Tone

AT&T''s agreement to buy BellSouth for $67 billion, with General Motors'' stake-sale plans and a brokerage upgrade on Intel Corp boosted stocks to open higher.

Energy stocks moved lower in the early going on retreating oil prices. The transportation group was also weak. Technology stocks showed weakness as well, including a decline in the networking and disk drive sectors.

Telcom stocks stood out among movers to the upside, rallying on AT&T deal to buy BellSouth. The sector climbed nearly 2%, while BellSouth posted an advance of more than 10%.

9:00 AM ET - Premarket Opening

U.S stocks futures pointed to a higher opening, supported by a series of merger deals including AT&T Inc.''s announcement of a $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp. which helped lift market sentiment after the lackluster trading of late last week.

Over the weekend, AT&T (T: chart), long-distance telephone company, agreed to acquire BellSouth (BLS: chart), the No. 3 U.S. regional phone company, for $67 billion. Under the agreement, each common share of BellSouth will be exchanged for 1.325 shares of AT&T common stock. Once the acquisition of BellSouth is completed, AT&T will gain total control of Cingular Wireless, the largest mobile phone company in the U.S. Currently, AT&T holds a 60% stake in Cingular, while BellSouth has the remaining 40% stake.

Economic News

The Department of Commerce released its report on new orders for manufactured goods in the month of January on Monday. The report showed a notable decrease in orders, although the drop was still smaller than economist had expected.

The report said that factory orders fell 4.5 percent in January after an upwardly revised increase of 1.6 percent in December. Economists had expected orders to fall 5.4 percent compared to the 1.1 percent increase originally reported for December.