US stocks fall despite gains for Netflix, Twitter

New York - US stocks began the fourth quarter on a down note on Monday, declining despite gains for Netflix and Twitter on takeover speculation.

Analysts said investors were taking profit after Friday's strong session concluded the third quarter.
Netflix jumped 4.1% on speculation it could be acquired by Disney.

Disney has also been mentioned as a potential buyer of Twitter, which also ended up 4.1%. Other companies that have been mentioned as potential suitors for Twitter include Salesforce and Google.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3% to 18 253.85.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.3% to 2 161.20, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2% to 5 300.87.
Tenet Healthcare lost 4.0% on news it will pay $513m to settle US Department of Justice charges it bribed prenatal care clinics to win referrals to hospitals in the southern US.

Tesla Motors surged 4.7% after announcing it delivered 24 500 vehicles in the third quarter, more than most analysts expected. Analyst Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research called the figures a sign of a "blowout quarter."

Twenty-First Century Fox rose 1.7% after its film, "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," led the US box office over the weekend with $28.5m.

Dow Chemical and DuPont both rose more than 1.0% on news the European Commission resumed an antitrust review on their proposed merger after receiving additional information from the companies.

The agency had halted the review in September.

Facebook rose 0.4% as it announced a new platform to buy and sell goods, putting it in competition with other online marketplaces, including eBay, which fell 1.0%.