Wall St flat despite major takeover news
Wall Street gave up earlier gains late in trade, as falling energy prices offset merger and acquisition news.
After spending much of the afternoon 0.1 per cent higher the Dow Jones finished flat, just 13 points higher, at 17,647.
The S&P 500 added just 1 point to 2,041.
Shares in Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil field services companies, lost 10.6 ten per cent after announcing it is buying rival Baker Hughes for $US35 billion.
Baker Hughes rose 9 per cent to $US65.23 a share.
In another major deal, drug-maker Actavis is buying Botox-maker Allergan for $US66 billion, which will create one of the top ten biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world.
Actavis shares rose 1.7 per cent.
Oil prices continue to bump along close to four-year lows, meaning energy stocks are keeping a lid on gains.
Chevron was one of the worst performers on the Dow, losing 0.5 per cent.
West Texas crude closed down at $US75.40 a barrel and Singapore's Tapis crude was $US79.10.
Across the Atlantic, markets saw strong gains, after European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi indicated to the European Parliament that further stimulus is in the pipeline for the struggling region.
London's FTSE 100 added 0.25 per cent while the Eurostoxx gained 0.7 per cent.
In Asia, Japan's economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter, slipping into recession.
It is the world's third largest economy and Australia's second biggest trading partner.
The recession was brought on by a domestic tax hike and so is not expected to last.
Futures trade was pointing to a rise on the Australian share market; at 8:20am (AEDT) the ASX SPI 200 was 0.2 per cent higher at 5,439.
The Australian dollar was slightly higher than this time yesterday, at 87.09 US cents.
Spot gold rose sharply to close at higher at $US1,186 an ounce.
The key iron ore price dropped to $US75.10 a tonne.
