Aside from the news about Dell's bid for EMC, it is looking like a quiet start to the week.
The Dow Jones slipped 11 points lower to 17,073 in the first hour of trading, while the broader-based S&P 500 slipped one point to 2,014 while the tech-infested Nasdaq Composite gave up a couple of points at 4,829.
EMC (NYSE:EMC) initially rose in early trading on Monday after the data storage group agreed to be acquired by US computer giant Dell in a deal valued at about US$67bn.
Shares advanced as much as 3.8% as of 8:27 a.m. in New York before following the market lower, ebbing to US$27.73. The stock had closed up 2.5% at US$27.87 on Friday, giving the company a market value of US$53.6bn.
Dell is offering EMC shareholders about US$24.05 a share in cash and US$9.10 of a tracking stock tied to EMC's VMware (NYSE:VMW) stake, the companies said in joint statement on Monday. EMC bought VMware in 2004 for US$625mln. EMC was left with an 80% stake in VMware when it went public.
On the subject of going public, iconic Italian car producer Ferrari is to be floated by its owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) at a price of between US$48 and US$52.
The indicated flotation range places a value of around US$10bn on Ferrari, and the offering will see Fiat Chrysler pocket around US$1bn.
Shares in Fiat Chrysler were up 1.7% at US$15.94.
Going the other way were shares in Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY). The drugs giant has ceased development of evacetrapib, its lead heart drug, prompting a 7.3% tumble in the share price to US$79.74.
Also on the slide were shares in social network operator Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). The stock fell just over 5% to US$29.29 on reports it is to lay off staff this week.