Major Averages Close Lower After Trading Down All Day

(Updated from 3:42 p.m. EDT)

Blue-chips and tech stocks closed lower today, but the major averages came off their session lows.

The Dow lost 15 points, or 0.21%, to 10,401.72. The Nasdaq shed 11 points, or 0.6%, to 2017.82, and the S&P 500 slipped 1.30 points, or 0.1%, to 1204.52.

Heller Financial (HF) jumped $17.09, or 47.6%, to $52.99 on the news that General Electric (GE) agreed to purchase the company for $5.3 billion. GE is offering $53.75 for each Heller share. General Electric lost $1.05, or 2.4%, to $43.60. Motorola (Motorola) saw some robust activity, gaining 3 cents, or 0.16%, to $19.03. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was also among the most active stocks, and climbed 53 cents, or 3%, to $18.21.

Aviron's (AVIR) shares were roughed up after a Food and Drug Administration panel on Friday voted against recommending approval for its FluMist nasal spray vaccine. Shares of Aviron dropped $13.43, or 32.9%, to $27.37.

The 10-year benchmark Treasury note was recently up 2/32 to 99 11/32, yielding 5.087%. In currency action, the dollar was stronger against the yen and the euro.

In overseas activity, London's FTSE 100 traded up 25 points, or 0.48%, to 5429, with technology stocks serving as the catalyst. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 traded down 218 points, or 1.85%, to 11,579 as weekend elections failed to stabilize the index. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 95 points, or 0.78%, to 12,086.