An unexpected decline in January wholesale inventories kept U.S. stocks range-bound Wednesday.

Total wholesale inventories dropped 0.2%, against an anticipated rise of 0.2%, while sales rose to their highest level in seventeen months.

The only bright spot on American markets on Wednesday was a surge in M&A activity which lifted the Nasdaq.

"We've started to see a pick-up in M&A activity, and that represents a sign of confidence that chief executive officers and chief financial officers see better times ahead," Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport, Connecticut, was quoted by Reuters Thomson as saying.

At the close of trading Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrials were up 2.95 points or 0.03% at 10,567.33.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 18.27 points or 0.78% at 2,358.95.

The Standard and Poor's 500 climbed 5.16 points or 0.45% at 1,145.61.

The U.S. dollar was mixed. Around the New York close on Wednesday the euro was quoted at 1.3640.

The yen inched down to 90.42 while the British pound slid to 1.4957.

The Swiss franc conversely firmed to 1.0711 while the Australian dollar strengthened to .9123. The Canadian dollar was also stronger at 1.0258.