Blue-Chip shares clung to a small gain in New York yesterday, but most stocks dropped as US interest rates worries overshadowed a stream of merger announcements, including another blockbuster deal.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36.37 points to 9,091.52, and would have barely finished higher if not for some outsize gains from DuPont and General Motors.
An early gain of 135 briefly put the Dow within three points of last Monday's record of 9,192.66 by the blue-chip measure.
Broader indexes surrendered all of their gains as interest rates rose in a jittery bond market more concerned about economic matters than mergers, particularly with two key inflation reports due this week.
Stocks opened the day higher amid news that fast-growing phone giant SBC Communications had agreed to purchase rival Ameritech.
The merger, which comes less than a week after Daimler-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler for $38 billion (£26.9 billion), would be the second-largest in history after the $82 billion deal announced in early April by Travelers Group and Citicorp.
In other merger activity, Monsanto announced deals to take control of two seed companies, and Baker Hughes agreed to buy Western Atlas, another oilfield services concern.
