US

STOCKS fluctuated yesterday, after the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 index climbed to a record last week, as corporate deals helped offset data showing Japan fell into recession and American industrial production declined.

The S&P 500 slid less than 0.1 percent to 2 039.62 at 10.37am in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 4.59 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 17 639.33. The Russell 2000 index lost 0.2 percent.

Actavis climbed 3.8 percent after reaching a deal to pay about $66 billion (R730bn) for Allergan. Baker Hughes jumped 13 percent after agreeing to sell itself to Halliburton for $34.6bn. DreamWorks Animation slipped 13 percent after Hasbro’s approach to acquire the studio was said to have ended without agreement.

“The central theme is overriding concern that global growth is continuing to decelerate,” said Chad Morganlander, a money manager at Stifel Nicolaus. “There’s hope monetary policy will stay accommodative across the board, which has emboldened risk-taking.” – Bloomberg