Wall St ends slightly higher, helped by acquisitions
The S&P 500 eked out a small gain for a third straight session, helped by a flurry of merger activity, though investors see no catalysts to lift the market further with major averages near multi-year highs.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.52 points, or 0.07 percent, at 13,973.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.05 points, or 0.07 percent, at 1,521.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.78 points, or 0.06 percent, at 3,198.66..
The euro and shares fell today after data showed the euro zone's two biggest economies shrank even more than expected late last year, throwing a first quarter recovery into doubt.Stock markets had managed to turn around initial falls but were back down by mid-morning. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.4 percent at 1162.58. Frankfurt's DAX and Milan's fell 0.9 percent while Paris's CAC-40 and London's FTSE were 0.4 percent lower.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded as investors flocked to companies posting rosy earnings such as brewer Asahi Group Holdings , but profit-taking in financials limited gains and pulled down the broader Topix index.
The Nikkei gained 0.5 percent to 11,307.28. That is 1.7 percent below the 33-month high of 11,498.42 hit on February 6.
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