Stock market ekes out gains

A round of corporate deals helped the broad stock market eke out only its second day of gains this month.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. rose nearly 1 percent after the company said it would sell control of its Arby's chain to a private equity firm that owns several other quick-service franchises like Moe's Southwest Grill and Auntie Anne's.

And clothing maker VF Corp., whose brands include Wrangler and The North Face, jumped 10 percent after agreeing to buy bootmaker Timberland for more than $2.2 billion.

When big companies use cash to make an acquisition, it signals a belief that there are values in the market, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"That's a good sign of confidence when we desperately need some," he said.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.06 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,952.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 inched up 0.85 of a point, less than 0.1 percent, to 1,271.83. The Nasdaq composite lost 4.04, or 0.15 percent, to 2,639.69.

All three indexes are down more than 4 percent in the last month because of concerns that the U.S. economy is stalling. Stocks have fallen since late April, following dismal reports on the housing market, manufacturing and jobs.

On Friday, the Dow fell below 12,000 for the first time since March.. Energy companies in the S&P index lost 1.4 percent after oil dipped to $97.30 a barrel.