US stocks opened mixed on Monday evening Beijing time, with investors focusing on the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting. Paramount Global has proposed an all-cash offer of $30 per share to acquire all outstanding shares of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26.88 points, or 0.06%, to 47,928.11, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 73.715 points, or 0.31%, to 23,651.843. The S&P 500 rose 6.55 points, or 0.10%, to 6,876.95.

Last week, the S&P 500 climbed about 0.3%, bringing it within 0.7% of its all-time high. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted gains for four consecutive sessions through Friday, while the Dow advanced in three of the past four trading days.

Friday's delayed release of the September core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which came in softer than economists expected, provided support for equities. This was among the last key economic data points before this week's Fed policy meeting.

The Federal Reserve will begin its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, with the decision to be announced on Wednesday. This marks the central bank's final meeting of the year, followed by Chair Jerome Powell's press conference.

In recent weeks, traders have grown increasingly hopeful for a rate cut at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, federal funds futures now price in about a 90% chance of a rate cut, up from less than 67% a month ago.

"The market is closely watching whether the FOMC will cut rates or stand pat," said Eric Freedman, Chief Investment Officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management. "But investors may pay more attention to voting members' outlook on future rates and potential leadership changes at the Fed."

Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council and a leading candidate for next Fed chair, commented Monday on the appropriate degree of policy restriction: "I believe the Fed chair's job is to watch the data. Due to the government shutdown, we're missing a lot of data." Hassett added that making six-month rate commitments would be irresponsible.

No major economic data is scheduled for release Monday, though the New York Fed will publish its Survey of Consumer Expectations. Investors will monitor earnings reports this week from companies including Lululemon, Costco, Broadcom, Oracle, and Adobe.

In merger news, Paramount Global launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, approaching shareholders directly just days after Warner Bros. struck a content deal with Netflix.

The $30-per-share all-cash offer targets Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, TBS, HGTV, and the HBO Max streaming platform. Paramount argued that its proposal offers better value for shareholders and faces fewer regulatory hurdles, claiming it could deliver $18 billion more in cash proceeds than Netflix's deal terms.