US stocks retreat despite dealmaking US stocks fell in early activity as renewed signs of economic weakness from the eurozone overshadowed investors" interest in another round of large deal announcements. The S&P 500 fell as much as 0.4 per cent in the opening moments of trading on Thursday, before paring some losses. The benchmark was 0.2 per cent lower at 1,516.67 just under an hour into the session. The declines came as investors reacted to data from the eurozone, which showed that the region's economies shrank in the fourth quarter and fell short of expectations. The worries hit US stocks just as investors reacted positively to increased signs of dealmaking on Wall Street. Heinz rose 19.9 per cent to $72.51 after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and investment group 3G Capital said they would take the US food group private in a $28bn cash deal. The deal values shares in Heinz's at a 20 per cent premium to Wednesday's closing price, and shareholders are set to receive $72.50 a share. US Airways shares lost 2.8 per cent to $14.25 after the airline said it was set to merge with AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, in a deal with a combined equity value of $11bn. If the merger is successful, it would create one of the largest airlines in the world by revenues. The losses extended to the other two major US benchmarks. The Nasdaq Composite index dropped the most and was 0.3 per cent lower to 3,186.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to 13,953.50. Shares in football club Manchester United rose 0.5 per cent to $18.81 as the company reported that sponsorship revenues continued to climb in its latest quarterly figures. Cisco lost 2.4 per cent to $20.63 after the computer networking equipment maker said sales in its China business declined 4 per cent in the three months to late January. General Motors rose 1.3 per cent to $29.04 even as the carmaker said losses from its European business deepened. PepsiCo gained 1.6 per cent to $72.63 as the food and beverage company said fourth-quarter net profits were above analysts" forecasts. BlackBerry shares lost 3.7 per cent to $13.47 as the smartphone maker's co-founder and former chief executive disclosed that he had sold his entire stake in the company. Investors said that the S&P 500, which is up 6.3 per cent for the year and notched gains for six consecutive weeks, still has room to climb. "The [benchmark's] advance may be in need of a rest, but not rest in peace, in our opinion," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. Despite ongoing political uncertainties and not too distant resistance levels, market multiples appear either fairly valued or modestly attractive to us. Fresh economic data showed that the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment fell more than expected last week.