NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks dipped on Monday as gains in consumer spending and income and a flurry of mergers-and-acquisition activity failed to prompt investor confidence in the flagging economic recovery.
U.S. consumer spending rose at the strongest pace in four months in July, supported by a small rise in incomes that offered hope consumers were contributing to a modest recovery.
Analysts said the spending would be short-lived unless companies increased hiring.
«The consumer spent in July and likely spent in August despite the lack of progress on the jobs front, which is not sustainable,» said Burt White, managing director and chief investment officer at LPL Financial in Boston.
«But at some point, businesses are going to have to do their part and hire them.»
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 17.41 points, or 0.17 percent, to 10,133.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (.SPX) lost 1.35 points, or 0.13 percent, to 1,063.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) fell 2.27 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,151.36.
A burst of M&A action highlighted trading. Genzyme Corp (GENZ.O) rose 3.6 percent to $70.03 after France’s Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA) disclosed a cash offer of $18.5 billion, or $69 per share, to buy the U.S. biotechnology company. Later, Genzyme broke a five-week silence to reject the bid. U.S.-listed shares of Sanofi (SNY.N) edged up 0.5 percent to $20.06.
Intel Corp (INTC.O) agreed to buy the wireless unit of German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG (IFXGn.DE) for $1.4 billion, enabling the U.S. chipmaker to boost its presence in the smartphone market. Intel shed 2 percent to $18.04.
Dell Inc (DELL.O) advanced 2 percent to $12.12 after saying it is assessing a bid for data storage company 3PAR Inc (PAR.N) after 3PAR’s board called Hewlett-Packard Co’s (HPQ.N) $2 billion offer a «superior proposal.» 3PAR lost 2.6 percent to $31.61.
Separately, HP authorized an additional $10 billion in share repurchases. HP gained 3 percent to $39.15.
Cogent Inc (COGT.O) surged 20 percent to $10.67 after 3M Co (MMM.N) agreed to acquire the maker of fingerprint identification systems for $943 million, or $10.50 per share.
3M shares dipped 0.7 percent to $80.40 as the top drag on the Dow.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)