Wall Street flat after rally; Apple biggest company ever

Despite the lethargic trading, Apple Inc shares hit a new high, becoming the most valuable public company of all time, with the combined value of its shares exceeding a previous record set by Microsoft. Shares closed up 2.6 percent to $665.15 (USD).

The S&P 500 remains close to a four-year high, rising nearly 5 percent in the past six weeks. Investors had been waiting for the ECB to take steps to control the euro crisis in September. Last week, the index broke away from the 1,400 level where it had stalled for much of August.

Wall Street ends flat after six weeks of gains. Apple becomes most valuable company of all time.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 20, 2012) (NYSE) - U.S. stocks were flat on Monday (August 20) on signs of fatigue after a six-week run of gains as the European Central Bank (ECB) quelled speculation about the form of market intervention that may be taken to stem the region's debt crisis.

German magazine Der Spiegel said over the weekend the ECB is considering setting interest rate thresholds for any purchases of a struggling euro zone country's bonds. A bank spokesman said it was misleading to report on decisions that still had not been taken.

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, also reiterated its opposition to bond purchases. A spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said it was not aware of any plans for the ECB to target bond spreads.

The slight losses on U.S. exchanges compared with much steeper declines in Europe and a fall in the Shanghai index to its lowest level since 2009.

Facebook Inc shares briefly fell more than 50 percent from its issue price to hit a new low of $18.75.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 3.56 points, or 0.03 percent, to 13,271.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.03 points, or 0.00 percent, to 1,418.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.38 points, or 0.01 percent, to 3,076.21.

Volume was weak in one of the lightest traded sessions of the year with about 4.83 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, well below the daily average of 6.64 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,680 to 1,267, while on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers 1,432 to 999.