Stocks opened higher on Monday as investors focused on a European meeting intended to find ways to boost the region's economies and tackle a debt crisis and prepared for the start of U.S. corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 21.04 points, or 0.17 percent, at 12,380.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 1.75 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,279.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 8.20 points, or 0.31 percent, at 2,682.42.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)