U.S. stocks gain at the open, McDonald's helps to lift Dow

U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Monday, as a round of deal news and some positive corporate earnings boosted positive sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, to 24,435. The S&P 500 added 0.2% to 2,675. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2% to 7,135. Among the most active stocks of the day, McDonald's Corp. jumped 4.1% after the Dow component reported results that topped analyst forecasts. Also in focus was Sprint Corp. which fell 9.9% after news it plans to merge with T-Mobile US Inc. Shares of T-Mobile fell 3%. On the economic data front, the personal-consumption expenditures index rose to 2% year over year from a 1.7% pace in February, hitting the Federal Reserve's inflation target for the first time in a year.