NEW YORK: US stocks traded flat Monday, struggling to maintain last week's rally on a positive jobs report as investors awaited a speech from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.
After opening with modest gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.03 points (0.08 percent) to 12,386.83 by 1445 GMT, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.56 point (0.02 percent) to 2,792.85.
The S&P 500-stock index, a broader measure of the markets, advanced a scant 0.31 point (0.02 percent) to 1,332.72.
In a week light on major economic and company earnings releases, Wall Street was expected to focus on a speech Monday by Bernanke at a conference hosted by the Atlanta Fed.
Bernanke has shown no inclination yet to pull back the central bank's emergency support of the government-led recovery, despite hints from other Fed officials that that could be possible.
"It seems unlikely that he will provide any 'new' insight on his outlook for monetary policy," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
"Nonetheless, participants will be hyper-attentive to the Fed chairman's remarks at this time knowing that he helped launch this latest stock market rally with a speech last August in Jackson Hole that hinted at the likelihood of QE2 (quantitative easing)."
Wall Street stocks found support in early trade "following a solid week of gains capped off by a favorable US labor report on Friday, as a plethora of global M&A (merger and acquisition) deals is helping to support sentiment," Charles Schwab analysts said in a client note.
Dow component Pfizer, the world's biggest pharmaceuticals company, announced Monday it has agreed to sell capsule-maker unit Capsugel to private-equity firm KKR for about $2.4 billion in cash. Pfizer shares were up 0.61 percent to $20.50; KKR climbed 1.33 percent to $17.13.
In M&A moves abroad, British mobile phone giant Vodafone confirmed the sale of its stake in French rival SFR to Vivendi for $11 billion in cash, while China's Minmetals Resources made a $6.5 billion bid for Australian copper miner Equinox Minerals.
US budget airline Southwest Airlines fell 2.60 percent to $12.34 after one of its Boeing 737s blew a hole in the fuselage and was forced to make an emergency landing. Southwest has grounded part of its fleet for inspections. Boeing slipped 0.07 percent to $73.96.
On Friday, stocks rallied as traders welcomed the Labor Department's report of a drop in the US unemployment rate in March, to 8.8 percent from 8.9 percent in February, thanks to strong job creation. The Dow added 0.46 percent.
The bond market firmed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.42 percent from 3.45 percent Friday, while that for the 30-year bond slipped to 4.48 percent from 4.49 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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