Wall Street eked out gains as merger and takeover activity outweighed concern about rising oil prices and escalating chaos in Iraq and an IMF downgrade in its US economic growth forecast.
In the final hour of trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.05 per cent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.09 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.17 per cent.
In the Dow, gains in shares of Chevron, up 1.2 per cent, and those of Home Depot, up 1.1 per cent, outweighed declines in shares of UnitedHealth, down 1.2 per cent, and those of General Electric, down 0.9 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund downgraded its outlook for the US economy, lowering its 2014 prediction to 2 per cent because of harsh winter weather, from a 2.8 per cent forecast in April. It maintained its 2015 forecast for 3 per cent growth.
"Job growth has been healthy but labour markets are weaker than is implied by the headline unemployment number: long-term unemployment is high, labour force participation is well below what can be explained by demographic factors, and wages are stagnant," the IMF said in a statement. "With better growth prospects, the US should see steady progress in job creation."