US stocks open lower; Priceline sinks on earnings warning

US stocks opened lower Monday after notching a sixth straight week of gains, with online travel giant Priceline sinking after issuing an unexpected warning on fourth-quarter earnings.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 142.77 points (0.80 percent) at 17,767.56.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 14.95 points (0.71 percent) to 2,084.25, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 28.83 (0.56 percent) to 5,118.29.

Some earnings disappointments and speculation on the interest rate plans of the Federal Reserve -- will it hike in December or not? -- weighed on shares.

Priceline warned the strong US dollar could hit its international earnings, and gave a fourth-quarter forecast that was some 11 percent lower than analysts were predicting, sending its shares tumbling 5.7 percent.

Construction timber specialist Plum Creek jumped 14.2 percent after it announced its merger with forestry and paper giant Weyerhauser in a share swap deal that valued Plum Creek shares nearly 14 percent above the average of the past month.

The two Seattle-based companies said the tie-up, with a combined earnings of $2.2 billion last year, is focused on taking advantage of the resurgent US housing construction sector.

Weyerhauser shares fell 4.6 percent on the deal.

Shares in industrial conglomerate/investment house Berkshire Hathaway fell 1.3 percent despite a record surge in third-quarter earnings reported late Friday. While it beat total earnings forecasts, Warren Buffett's giant turned in a disappointing operating earnings figure, hurt by higher insurance underwriting costs.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.37 percent from 2.33 percent Friday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.13 percent from 3.09 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.