Major Averages Close Slightly Higher After Choppy Trading Day

(RTTNews) - Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading day on Monday as trader weighed worries about the deteriorating security situation in Iraq against a batch of upbeat U.S. economic data. The choppy trading came on the heels of the pullback seen last week.

Many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader markets.

Electronic storage stocks saw significant strength, however, with the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index surging up by 4 percent. With the gain the index ended the session at its best closing level in almost two months.

SanDisk (SNDK) helped lead the storage sector higher, surging up by 3.6 percent after agreeing to acquire Fusion-io (FIO) for about $1.1 billion.

Considerable strength was also visible among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones Utilities Average. Williams (WMB) posted a standout gain after agreeing to pay nearly $6 billion to expand its ownership of Access Midstream Partners (ACMP).

Computer hardware stocks also saw notable strength on the day, while airline stocks pulled back further off their recent highs amid concerns about higher jet fuel prices.

The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before closing slightly higher. The Dow ticked up 5.27 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 16,781.01, the Nasdaq edged up 10.45 points or 0.2 percent to 4,321.11 and the S&P 500 inched up 1.62 points or 0.1 percent to 1,937.78.