NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Nasdaq managed modest gains Monday, but the broader market struggled as surging oil prices and a rise in Treasury bond yields tempered any enthusiasm about the day's big merger news.

The Nasdaq composite (up 4.99 to 2,267.03, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 2.55 to 1,284.13, Charts) index both added around 0.2 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 0.32 to 11,076.02, Charts) ended little changed.

The details See more

Special Reportfull coverage America's cheapest gas is in this town Summer drivers to get a break on gas Why gas prices are likely to keep climbing You'll pay a little less for gas this summer Expect relief from record February gas prices Why gas prices are rising

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery jumped $1.81 to settle at $61.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of roughly 3 percent.

That was good news for the oil stocks, which jumped 2 percent, as evidenced by the Amex Oil (up 20.97 to 1,042.51, Charts) index. But it was bad news for the broader market, which gave back morning gains.

Treasury prices inched higher, lowering the corresponding yields and the dollar was mixed versus other major currencies.

While the morning's merger news was positive, most of the deals were not particularly surprising, having been rumored previously, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. As such, the impact on the market was not lasting.

Plus stocks had a big run up Friday, and that can set up some profit taking.

Considering all of this, "the market is holding up pretty well, particularly with oil prices back near $62 a barrel," he added. "It's a wait and see day. We have a lot of news coming up later in the week."

Tuesday brings reads on February retail sales and January business inventories, while reports are due later in the week on manufacturing, housing and consumer prices.

After the close, a U.S. Food and Drug Advisory panel recommended against approval of Eli Lilly (Research)'s cancer drug Gemzar to treat late-stage ovarian cancer. Shares initially fell in extended-hours trading, but soon flattened out.

Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat open for stocks Tuesday, when fair value is taken into account.

The continued run up in Treasurys also played a role in the day's trade, said James Awad, president at Awad Asset Management. Rising bond yields is "becoming something of a migraine for the stock market," he added.

Treasury prices fell modestly, boosting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.77 percent from about 4.76 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Treasury yields have been rising over the last few weeks, sparking renewed concerns about pressure to the economy. In addition, higher-yielding Treasurys can make bonds more attractive to some investors, ultimately pulling money away from stocks.

Financial stocks were among those hit in response to the run up in interest rates. Dow components American Express (down $0.39 to $53.84, Research) and Citigroup (down $0.15 to $46.84, Research) were among the decliners on the blue-chip average.

Rate-sensitive investors also took in afternoon comments from San Francisco Federal Reserve president Janet Yellen, who supported incoming Fed chief Ben Bernanke's bid for an inflation target for the Federal Reserve.

Nonetheless, a bevy of mergers gave Wall Street some fuel, even with the run up in interest rates.

In the largest deal, Capital One Financial (down $6.82 to $83.10, Research), a credit card company, said late Sunday it would buy North Fork Bancorp (up $3.80 to $29.20, Research) for about $14.6 billion in stock and cash. The completed deal would pushing the combined company into the top 10 among the nation's banks.

Capital One shares lost around 7.6 percent, while North Fork jumped 15 percent.

Newspaper publisher McClatchy Company (down $1.51 to $51.55, Research) is buying larger rival Knight Ridder (down $1.08 to $63.92, Research) for $4.5 billion in cash and stock. McClatchy shares lost nearly 3 percent, while Knight Ridder lost 1.7 percent.

And Watson Pharmaceuticals (down $0.55 to $29.00, Research) agreed to buy Andrx (up $2.14 to $23.73, Research) for $1.9 billion in cash. Watson shares lost close to 2 percent, while Andrx shares added nearly 10 percent.

Merger news tends to boost investor sentiment as it suggests corporations are confident enough about their business outlook and the economic picture to make big purchases.

In addition, Verizon (Research) has made an informal offer to British telecom operator Vodafone about acquiring Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for about $40 billion, a British paper reported Sunday. The deal would come in the wake of AT&T (Research)-Bell South (Research) merger agreement last week.

The proposed deal gave a lift to a number of other telecom shares.

Among other movers, Apple Computer (up $2.49 to $65.68, Research) added almost 4 percent in active Nasdaq trade after Citigroup boosted the shares to "buy" from "hold," saying new products should spark a rebound for the stock.

A number of telecom and networking shares gained, lifting the Amex Networking (up 2.46 to 260.36, Charts) index by 1 percent.

But the influential semiconductor sector was weaker. The Philadelphia Semiconductor (down 2.41 to 499.93, Charts) index, or the SOX, lost 0.5 percent.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers nine to seven on volume of 1.51 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by eight to seven on volume of 1.68 billion shares.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose $6.20 to settle at $547.50 an ounce.

______________

Click here for the latest business news.