US stocks ends at record on M&A activity

The S&P 500 edged up to close at a record on Monday as deal activity worth $100 billion offset concerns about overseas growth after Japan's economy slipped into recession. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.62 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 17,647.36, the S&P 500 gained 1.41 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 2,041.23 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.54 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 4,671.00. The Nasdaq was pressured by weakness in large-cap tech names, including Amazon.com Inc, which fell 1.5 per cent to $323.05, and Netflix Inc, which was off 1.3 per cent to $381.14, according to Reuters.