U.S. stocks opened little changed on Monday, with investors finding few incentives to jump back into the market even after a recent string of declines that included its worst drop since Aug. 5 in the previous session.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.65 points or 0.03 percent, to 17,018.52, the S&P 500 gained 1.39 points or 0.07 percent, to 1,989.83 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.12 points or 0.07 percent, to 4,555.41.