By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks wavered between small
gains and losses on Monday, catching their breath after a strong
performance in the prior session that boosted the Dow industrials
to a record close.
Investors are weighing encouraging Chinese economic reports that
came out over the weekend, which helped Asian and European
equities. They are also continuing to digest Friday's
better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.
Bond traders have a holiday Monday thanks to Veterans Day, when
there will also be no economic reports from the U.S.
government.
The S&P 500(SPX) was last roughly unchanged at 1,771. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) edged up 11 points, or less than
0.1%, to 15,773, heading for a fresh record close. The Nasdaq
Composite (RIXF) shed 8 points, or 0.2%, to 3,911.
On Friday, the Dow finished at 15,761.78, a record close. The
blue-chip index's intraday peak is 15,797.68, hit on Thursday.
For the S&P 500, the record close is 1,771.95, achieved on
Oct. 29. The benchmark index has spent time above that level in
recent sessions, including Monday, but hasn't managed to finish
above it. The S&P 500's intraday all-time high is 1,775.22, hit
on Oct. 30.
"Today is going to be a pretty mild day when it comes to
movements, just because we're not going to see much in the way of
data," said Kristina Hooper, a U.S. investment strategist at
Allianz Global Investors. "The lack of economic data points today
may just cause further scrutiny of Friday's jobs report."
She said the jobs report was "a mixed bag," with an "explosive"
headline number that beat forecasts, but with a drop in the
labor-force participation rate, among other negatives.
In corporate news, ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) jumped nearly 26%
after Shire PLC (SHPGY) said it would pay $4.2 billion, or $50 a
share for the biotech firm. Shire gained 1%.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was last up 1% following news that it has
reached a deal with the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries on
Sunday to some customers in Los Angeles and New York. The service
is expected to roll out to more cities next year.
Shares of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) lost 2% in their third day of
trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts at Sterne Agee
started coverage of Twitter with a neutral rating on Monday. The
social-media firm's stock popped 73% on Thursday, its first day of
trading.
In other markets, gold prices declined, while crude oil rose.
The dollar index(DXY), a measure of the U.S. unit against six
rivals, dipped.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires