Stocks Fail to Find Footing

Updated from 4:11 p.m. EST

Wall Street was directionless for the entire session Monday as a spate of merger-and-acquisition activity did little to entice nervous investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 8.25 points, or 0.07%, to 12,661.74, while the Nasdaq Composite was off 5.28 points, or 0.21%, at 2470.60. The S&P 500 was lower by 1.40 points, or 0.1%, at 1446.99.

"The bulls have a lot to celebrate and enter the week partying in new high territory," said Ken Tower, chief market strategist with CyberTrader. "Only tech-heavy sectors like the Nasdaq have failed to jump on the new-high bandwagon. This is problematic since the Nasdaq has a history of leading the overall market, but it's too early to panic."

On the Dow, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) was the best performer, rising 1.8%. However, that gain was offset by Microsoft (MSFT Quote), which fell by 1.8%.

Akamai Technologies (AKAM Quote) was one of the best performers on the Nasdaq, rising 4.6%. On the other hand, Google (GOOG Quote) shed 3%.

Roughly 1.93 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange. Decliners beat advancers by a 9-to-7 margin. Volume on the Nasdaq topped 1.91 billion shares, with losers outpacing winners 3 to 2.

Several merger deals made headlines, including a plan by State Street (STT Quote) to acquire Investors Financial (IFIN Quote) for roughly $4.5 billion. State Street shed 6.5%, while Investors Financial surged 27.4% to $59.80.

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