US stocks were little changed on Monday as another day of persistently below-average volume suggested investors weren't willing to chase gains that carried stocks to 2 1/2-year highs last week. Equities were coming off two straight weeks of gains, although light trading volume undercut the bullish sentiment.
President Barack Obama proposed a federal budget that would cut the US deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. Congress must approve the plan, and Republicans, who are in the majority in the House, said it did not curb spending enough. The S&P 500 has gained nearly 13 percent since the start of December, helped by strong corporate results and the recent resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, which eased some of the tensions around the region for now.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33.45 points, or 0.27 percent, at 12,239.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 1.67 points, or 0.13 percent, at 1,327.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.90 points, or 0.10 percent, at 2,812.34. Wal-Mart Stores Inc was one of the worst performers on the Dow after J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock, seeing weak traffic and lower market share for the retail giant in 2011.
The data also boosted North American natural resource shares. Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc rose 3.9 percent to $55.62 while Alcoa Inc rose 1.1 percent to $17.56 and was the Dow's top gainer. New deals continued a string of recent merger and acquisition activity. EchoStar Corp agreed to buy Hughes Communications Inc for about $1.33 billion, while private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice agreed to take Emergency Medical Services Corp private for about $3 billion.
Shares of Hughes fell 3.8 percent to $59.43 while EchoStar shares edged 0.3 percent higher to $29.97. Emergency Medical fell almost 11 percent to $62.93. General Electric Co plans to buy the well support division of British energy services firm John Wood Group Plc for about $2.8 billion in the latest move to boost its presence in oil services. GE rose 1 percent to $21.56.
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