S&P 500 ends at record on M&A activity

The S&P 500 edged up to close at a record on Monday as deal activity worth $100 billion offset concerns about overseas growth after Japan's economy slipped into recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.62 points, or 0.07 percent, to 17,647.36, the S&P 500 gained 1.41 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,041.23 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 17.54 points, or 0.37 percent, to 4,671.00.

The Nasdaq was pressured by weakness in large-cap tech names, including Amazon.com Inc, which fell 1.5 percent to $323.05, and Netflix Inc, which was off 1.3 percent to $381.14.