US stocks eke out gain after China drop

(AP)
Updated: 2007-06-05 14:49

In corporate news, dealmaking activity continued this week. Smartphone maker Palm Inc. said Monday it got $325 million from private equity firm Elevation Partners and announced a shakeup on its board. Palm spiked $1.48, or 9.2 percent, to $17.57.

Publisher Dow Jones & Co. fell $1.04 to $60.16 as the owner of The Wall Street Journal met with Rupert Murdoch about the possibility of an acquisition. Murdoch's News Corp. has offered $5 billion for the company.

Oil and natural gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said late Sunday it is selling natural gas gathering systems and associated processing plants to Atlas Pipeline Partners LP for $1.85 billion. Anadarko rose $2.30, or 4.6 percent, to $51.95; Atlas shares rose $8.14, or 22.9 percent, to $39.56.

Solectron Corp. rose 51 cents, or 15.2 percent, to $3.88 after rival Flextronics International Ltd. said it would by the contract electronics maker for about $3.6 billion in cash and stock. Flextronics fell 16 cents at $11.54.

Apple Inc.'s highly anticipated iPhone will be available June 29, according to both TV commercials broadcast Sunday night and a company spokesman. Shares of the technology company rose $2.93, or 2.5 percent, to $121.33.

And Wal-Mart Stores Inc. rose $1.74, or 3.5 percent, to $51.21 after being upgraded by analysts at Wachovia Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 2.69 billion shares, compared to 2.85 billion on Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 1.68, or 0.20 percent, at 855.09.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.08 percent. At the close, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.19 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 0.14 percent, and France's CAC-40 shed 0.69 percent.


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