NEW YORK: US stocks slipped Monday despite a flurry of merger and acquisition news as investors looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress this week.
Yahoo!'s $1.1 billion deal to buy blogging platform Tumblr temporarily helped to lift the Nasdaq above the flat line, but not enough to keep it there.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 19.12 points (0.12 percent) at 15,335.28.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2.53 (0.07 percent) to 3,496.43 and the broad-market S&P 500 lost 1.18 (0.07 percent) at 1,666.29.
The leading indices drifted for much of the day after surging to new record-high closes on Friday.
Analysts said the market was taking a breather ahead of Bernanke's testimony on the US economic outlook to Congress Wednesday and the release of the Fed minutes from the last policy meeting.
Yahoo! shares rose 0.2 percent after announcing an agreement to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.
The two firms confirmed weekend reports of the tie-up, in a deal which helps the struggling Internet pioneer connect with the privately held Tumblr's youthful users.
"Tumblr gives Yahoo! scale in social media, and, that by itself is enough to argue the deal, at $1.1 billion, is brilliant," said Douglas McIntyre of 24/7WallSt.com.
US drug maker Actavis agreed to acquire Irish rival Warner Chilcott for about $8.5 billion in stock. Actavis shares advanced 1.3 percent.
Private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners offered to buy Internet security firm Websense for $24.75 per share, or $907 million. Websense soared 28.8 percent to $24.76.
Digital marketing business Acquity Group skyrocketed 113.6 percent to $12.73 after management consultant firm Accenture announced late Friday it would pay $316 million for the company. Accenture shares rose 0.4 percent.
Goldman Sachs fell 0.5 percent after announcing it was selling the rest of its state in the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, worth around $1.1 billion.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 1.96 percent from 1.95 percent late Friday, while the 30-year was unchanged at 3.17 percent. Bond prices move inversely to yields.
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