Taking the plunge: The Dow plunged 1,000 points at the start of Monday trading but has pared some of its steepest losses in a harrowing early start to trading for global stock markets, following a Friday rout which saw U.S. stocks suffer their biggest weekly declines in four years. MarketWatch reports the Monday mayhem follows a major rout in Chinese equities, which surrendered all of their gains for 2015. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.81% dropped more than 1,000 points, but was trading off its lows, down 617 points, or 3.7%, at 15,855. The S&P 500 SPX, -2.27% plunged 76 points, or 3.9%, to 1,893, with nearly all of the 500 companies trading lower. Health-care and technology sectors led the losses. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -2.53% fell 213 points in early trade, but was off 170 points, or 3.6%, to 4,541. MarketWatch has the full story.
Going big: Southern Co. is buying AGL Resources Inc. for approximately $7.93 billion, which will create the second-biggest utility company in the U.S. by customer base, The Associated Press reports. The combined business will include 11 regulated electric and natural gas distribution companies, serving approximately 9 million customers. Southern will pay $66 in cash for each AGL share, a 38% premium to the company’s Friday closing price of $47.86. Southern and AGL put the deal’s enterprise value at about $12 billion. AGL, which will maintain its headquarters in Atlanta, will become a subsidiary of Southern. Both companies’ boards have approved the transaction, which is targeted to close in the second half of 2016. It still requires approval from AGL shareholders and certain state utility and other regulatory commissions.
Steady as she goes: The average price of gasoline has remained steady over the past two weeks, holding at $2.71 a gallon, The Associated Press reports. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that while the average remains unchanged, many Midwest cities saw prices jump due to a partial shutdown of an Indiana refinery. Many West Coast cities experienced price drops. The cheapest price recorded in the continental United States was Charleston, South Carolina, at $2.10; the highest, $3.67 a gallon in Los Angeles. The average price this morning in Baton Rouge, according to GasBuddy.com, is $2.23; in Louisiana, $2.25. The national average price of diesel was down 6 cents over the same period to $2.72 a gallon.
