US stocks : Dow flat, S&P up 0.1 pct
activity bolstered the price of specific stocks. Precision Castparts Corp offered to buy Titanium Metals Corp for $2.9 billion, while Leucadia National Corp agreed to buy investment bank Jefferies Group for $3.6 billion.
Shares of Titanium surged 42.6 percent to $16.50, while Jefferies climbed 14 percent to $16.27. Precision rose 4.7 percent to $179.46. In contrast, Leucadia fell 3 percent to $21.14.
The S&P 500 dropped more than 2 percent last week, the worst week for the benchmark index since June. The drop was partly propelled by concerns about whether there will be a timely solution to avoid the fiscal cliff.
Gilead Sciences supported the Nasdaq after the company reported over the weekend a 100 percent cure rate using a combination of drugs in a small number of patients with the most common and hardest to treat form of hepatitis C. Gilead was up 13.7 percent at $73.93.
Also in the biotech sector, Celgene Corp rose 5.8 percent to $75.66 after a late-stage clinical trial showed its drug Abraxane improved survival in patients with pancreatic cancer.
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