* Caterpillar, EMC both in multibillion-dollar deals
* Amazon's stock off about 4 pct, leads Nasdaq down
* Dow up 0.1 pct, S&P off 0.1 pct, Nasdaq off 0.2 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to close)
By Leah Schnurr
NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks slipped on Monday
as concerns the Federal Reserve may scale back its efforts to
stimulate the economy muted optimism over two big takeover
bids.
The S&P 500 held above its 20-day moving average, now near
1,196 and marking a potential support level, though the index
closed slightly lower.
The energy and materials sectors, which are sensitive to
commodity prices and weaken when the dollar rises, led the way
down as the Treasury bond market selloff picked up steam in the
afternoon. The S&P materials sector <.GSPM> lost 0.9 percent.
"There's been concern that the quantitative easing is going
to be scaled back. There is certainly the skepticism and
uncertainty over QE 2 out there," said John Canally, an
investment strategist and economist at LPL Financial in
Boston.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> edged up 9.39
points, or 0.08 percent, at 11,201.97. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was off 1.46 points, or 0.12 percent, to
1,197.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> slipped 4.39
points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,513.82.
Mergers and acquisitions kept the market afloat for most of
the day after Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> agreed to buy mining
equipment maker Bucyrus International Inc <BUCY.O> for $7.6
billion and data storage equipment maker EMC Corp <EMC.N> inked
a deal to buy smaller rival Isilon Systems Inc <ISLN.O> for
$2.25 billion.
Bucyrus surged 29 percent to $89.80, while Caterpillar rose
1 percent to $81.82 and helped the Dow close slightly higher.
For details, see []
Isilon was among the most active stocks on Nasdaq, jumping
28.5 percent to $33.77, while EMC slipped 1.2 percent to
$21.45. []
Analysts said they expect M&A deals down the line will see
buyers focusing on gaining access to international markets, a
potential driver of growth for companies as the U.S. economy
recovers slowly.
If the S&P 500 holds above its 20-day moving average it
could find itself in a tight range as it faces strong
resistance around the 1,228 level. The Bollinger bands chart
indicates the near-term target at 1,230, in the area of the
61.8 percent retracement of the slide from the 2007 historic
highs to the 12-year lows of March 2009.
"That 1,220, 1,230 (level) is an important level and I
don't think it's going to be easy to get through. We're going
to need some sort of surprise good news to get us through there
on a sustained basis," said Scott Wren, senior equity
strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis.
Among gainers in the mining sector, Terex Corp <TEX.N>
climbed 2.9 percent to $25.13 and Joy Global Inc <JOYG.O> shot
up 7.5 percent at $77.77.
In economic news, retail sales posted their largest gain in
seven months in October, lifted by purchases of motor vehicles
and building materials. Separately, a gauge of manufacturing in
New York state fell in November to its lowest level since April
2009. []
Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> shares fell 4.1 percent to $158.90
on concerns that the decision by a number of rivals, including
Wal-Mart <WMT.N>, to offer free shipping could challenge the
online retailer's results. []
Charts show Amazon's stock is technically weak in the short
term, with the daily moving average convergence-divergence at a
'sell' since late October, except for a one-day blip last week.
Momentum turned negative on Friday when it also accumulated a
two-day drop of 4.4 percent.
And after Amazon's close on Friday below its 20-day moving
average -- a first for the share since Oct. 11 -- the Bollinger
bands chart shows a near-term target of $158.65, more than 4
percent below Friday's close.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Rodrigo
Campos and Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
