U.S. stocks fell modestly at the open on Monday, as investors found few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following a push to repeated records, and as the government shutdown provided another element of uncertainty to markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 72 points, or 0.2%, to 26,011. The S&P 500 declined 1 point to 2,809, a drop of less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index was unchanged at 7,336. Both the S&P and the Nasdaq are coming off closing records, while the Dow is close to its own peak. While government shutdowns have historically not been big selling catalysts, uncertainty over when the government would reopened appeared to dampen buying enthusiasm. The Senate was expected to hold a procedural vote at noon Eastern Time on a measure that would keep the government funded through Feb. 8, but it wasn’t clear if it would have enough support to advance. In company news, Juno Therapeutics Inc. jumped 27% after Celgene Corp. agreed to buy the company for $9 billion. Bioverativ Inc. soared 63% after Sanofi SA said it would buy it for $12 billion.
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