Stocks opened slightly lower on Monday as investors locked in profits while looking for further action from European officials to prevent a debt crisis from spreading.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 28.34 points, or 0.25 percent, to 11,353.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 3.34 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,221.37. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 2.03 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,589.43.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)