Stocks Show Little Change

Wall Street largely snoozed through Monday’s session, as key indexes showed little movement despite a spate of takeover activity.

In the bond market yields continued to rebound as falling energy prices left bond traders less confident that the Federal Reserve might pause in its credit-tightening campaign.

The Dow Jones industrial average moved within a mere 37-point band Monday and closed up 4.38 points to 10,682.94.

Other indexes also were little changed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 edged down 0.92 point, or less than 0.1%, to 1,240.56.

The Nasdaq composite index was boosted by some renewed interest in the technology sector, as Oracle agreed to buy Siebel Systems for $5.85 billion, and as EBay agreed to pay up to $4.1 billion for Internet phone-calling company Skype Technologies.

Nasdaq rallied 7.32 points, or 0.3%, to 2,182.83.

“We’re optimistic on technology in general,” said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup Global Mar kets in New York. “There is more and more cash looking for a place to go and there are interesting applications.”

The broader market has been rallying for the last two weeks despite the unprecedented devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Falling oil prices have softened concerns about the hit to the U.S. economy overall from the storm damage.

By Friday, the S&P; 500 index was within easy shot of its four-year closing high of 1,245.04 reached Aug. 3.

Energy prices continued to slide Monday, with near-term oil futures in New York falling 74 cents to $63.34 a barrel.

But in the bond market, traders who had been betting that Fed policymakers would hold short-term interest rates steady at their Sept. 20 meeting -- in deference to worries about the economy in the aftermath of Katrina -- saw oil’s decline as a threat to that thesis.

Richard Fisher, president of the Fed’s Dallas branch, said in a speech Monday that he expected the economy to “rebound fully from this disaster.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.17% from 4.12% on Friday. The two-year T-note ended at 3.91%, up from 3.87%.

Investors will get new reports on the nation’s economic health this week with August data on wholesale and consumer prices, industrial production and retail sales.

Among Monday’s market highlights:

* Energy-related stocks pulled back. Many had reached record highs Friday. Losers included ConocoPhillips, down $1.86 to $67.16; Amerada Hess, down $4.17 to $133.23; and Kerr McGee, down $2.64 to $92.21.

* Stocks of companies that might benefit from a post-Katrina rebuilding boom were mixed after strong gains in the last two weeks. Engineering firm Shaw Group lost 53 cents to $23.02 and cement maker Ready Mix slid $1.27 to $15.85, but manufactured housing maker Nobility Homes jumped $1.74 to $30.25.

* Siebel Systems rose $1.16 to $10.29 on Oracle’s offer; Oracle added 21 cents to $13.49. Other software issues were mixed.

* In the Internet sector, EBay gained 32 cents to $38.94 on news of its deal for closely held Skype.

Also in the Net sector, Chinese Web-related firms Netease.com, Sina and Sohu.com rallied after brokerage Morgan Stanley began coverage of the shares and said they were attractive. Netease.com surged $6.89 to $83.75, Sina rose $1.48 to $27.95 and Sohu.com gained $1.16 to $18.49.

Chinese search engine Baidu.com rocketed $15.95 to $112.25 and U.S. search leader Google was up $10.65 to $309.74.

* Delta Air Lines slid 25 cents to 85 cents on expectations that it would file for bankruptcy protection soon. Delta said no decision had been made. Among rivals, Continental rose 97 cents to $13.08 and AMR, parent of American, surged $1.15 to $13.16.