S&P hits new record but Nasdaq falters – New York Report
THE S&P 500 edged up to close at a record high on Monday as deal activity worth $100bn offset concerns about overseas growth after Japan’s economy slipped into recession.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.01 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 17,647.75, the S&P 500 gained 1.5 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,041.32. However, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.54 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 4,671.
Shares of Baker Hughes, up 8.9 per cent to $65.23, and Allergan , up 5.3 per cent at $209.20, gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost after Halliburton said it would buy Baker Hughes and Allergan agreed to be bought by Actavis. Among the most active NYSE stocks were Halliburton, down 10.62 per cent to $49.23, and US-listed shares of Petrobras, down 6.23 per cent to $9.33. Actavis rose 1.7 per cent to $247.94. The Nasdaq was weighed down by Google, which fell 1.5 per cent to $546.64, and Gilead, down 1.6 per cent at $100.44.
“It shows the strength of the overall market that you could have this recession news out of Japan, and yet have the market inch upwards,” said Eric Kuby, of North Star Investment Management in Chicago.
Shares of LinkedIn dropped 4.5 per cent to $223.28. Facebook’s professional version of its social network will launch in the next few months that would rival LinkedIn. Facebook shares were down 0.9 per cent at $74.24. On the Nasdaq, Apple was down 0.2 per cent at $113.99; Yahoo rose 1.2 per cent at $52.37; and Cisco Systems gained 0.6 per cent at $26.47.