[R]9:45AM U.S. stocks opened flat amid rising bond yields.[/R]

Wall Street opened flat, reflecting further advance in bond yields and solid gains in overseas markets. The yield on the Treasury's 10-year note jumped to 5.16% Monday from 5.11% late Friday.

Among companies in focus, Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart) added 0.9% after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform, saying that it hah underperformed rival pharmaceuticals by 17% over the last 12 months. International Business Machines (IBM: chart) revealed that it is the suitor behind a $746 million offer for Telelogic. IBM's stock fell 0.5%.

In early trading Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.66, or 0.03%, to 13,420.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.12, or 0.01%, to 1,507.79 and the Nasdaq composite index declined 1.27, or 0.05%to 2,574.81.


[R]9:30AM FTSE 100 is higher at mid-day on Monday on miners, bid speculation.[/R]

The FTSE 100 in London was 0.8% stronger at 6,556.2.

Advancers

Centrica, was in demand, with 2% rise after rumors that Gazprom was poised to make a bid. Other utilities also made gains on hopes for a fresh round of consolidation. Scottish & Southern Energy was 1.7% higher and International Power rose 1.6%.

Barclays rose 2.6% after reports that Atticus Capital, a hedge fund with a 1% stake in Barclays, pressured the UK bank to drop its agreed 64 billion euros offer for ABN.

Miners advanced on stronger metal prices. BHP Billiton was up 1.5%, Lonmin was ahead 1.6%, and Rio Tinto advanced 2.1%.

Decliners

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is leading a rival consortium bidding 71 billion euros for the ABN Amro, eased by 0.2%.

Rexam fell 2.1% after it unveiled the $1.8 billion acquisition of the plastic packaging business of US peer Owens-Illinois.

Vodafone is also lower 1.3%, on reports that the activist group trying to force the mobile company into restructuring its capital structure will fail in its attempt.

Away from the leading shares, office accommodation provider Workspace Group fell sharply 6.7%, after it saw pre-tax profits decline 24%.


[R]8:45AM U.S. stock futures pointed a flat market opening.[/R]

U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat market opening on Monday following a rebound Friday after steep declines on concerns about rising bond yields and global interest rates. Yields on the 10-year Treasury were at 5.12% in early action.

Among companies in focus, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart) was upgraded to neutral from underperform by Credit Suisse. General Electric (GE: chart) and Microsoft (MSFT: chart) failed to reach an agreement over a bid offer for Dow Jones (DJ: chart), meant to head off a $5 billion unsolicited bid from News Corp. (NWS: chart).