MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Sights On Latest In Series Of Record Highs

By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses on Monday, catching their breath after a strong performance in the prior session that boosted the Dow industrials to a record close.

Investors are weighing encouraging Chinese economic reports that came out over the weekend, which helped Asian and European equities. They are also continuing to digest Friday's better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

Bond traders have a holiday Monday thanks to Veterans Day, when there will also be no economic reports from the U.S. government.

The S&P 500(SPX) was last roughly unchanged at 1,771. The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) edged up 11 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,773, heading for a fresh record close. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) shed 8 points, or 0.2%, to 3,911.

On Friday, the Dow finished at 15,761.78, a record close. The blue-chip index's intraday peak is 15,797.68, hit on Thursday.

For the S&P 500, the record close is 1,771.95, achieved on Oct. 29. The benchmark index has spent time above that level in recent sessions, including Monday, but hasn't managed to finish above it. The S&P 500's intraday all-time high is 1,775.22, hit on Oct. 30.

"Today is going to be a pretty mild day when it comes to movements, just because we're not going to see much in the way of data," said Kristina Hooper, a U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors. "The lack of economic data points today may just cause further scrutiny of Friday's jobs report."

She said the jobs report was "a mixed bag," with an "explosive" headline number that beat forecasts, but with a drop in the labor-force participation rate, among other negatives.

In corporate news, ViroPharma Inc. (VPHM) jumped nearly 26% after Shire PLC (SHPGY) said it would pay $4.2 billion, or $50 a share for the biotech firm. Shire gained 1%.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) was last up 1% following news that it has reached a deal with the U.S. Postal Service to make deliveries on Sunday to some customers in Los Angeles and New York. The service is expected to roll out to more cities next year.

Shares of Twitter Inc. (TWTR) lost 2% in their third day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts at Sterne Agee started coverage of Twitter with a neutral rating on Monday. The social-media firm's stock popped 73% on Thursday, its first day of trading.

In other markets, gold prices declined, while crude oil rose. The dollar index(DXY), a measure of the U.S. unit against six rivals, dipped.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires