U.S. stocks lost steam in the final stretch to finish lower as Wall Street paused from a four week winning stretch even as corporate America engaged in another round of deal making.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 48 points to 10812, the Standard & Poor's 500 fell 6.5 points to 1142, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 11.5 points to 2370. Financial stocks fell more than 1% Monday, adding to the broad market's late session decline, after M&T Bank Corp. shares fell on a report over stalled merger talks, and worries simmered over European banks' financial health.

The Financial Select SPDR Trust (XLF) finished down 1.1%, outpacing the 0.6% slide in the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by the end of the day.

M&T (MTB) shares dropped 7%, the biggest decliner among S&P 500 financial stocks, after The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition that deal talks between Banco Santander (STD) and M&T Bank had stalled again in recent days, according to unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Citigroup Inc. (C) shares slid 0.9%. The U.S. Treasury may miss its year end deadline to sell its shares in the company, according to the Financial Times. American International Group (AIG) shares rose 1.8%. T

he insurer's Asian life insurance unit AIA Group Ltd. is getting closer to a Hong Kong share offering. Proceeds from the sale, worth up to $15 billion, should help AIG pay down a U.S. government bailout.

European market

European stock markets ended lower Monday, as industrial conglomerate Siemens fell after a trading update and drug companies Actelion and AstraZeneca dropped on disappointing study results.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.4% to 262.92. It rose 1.1% Friday and has gained about 5% so far this month.

European markets gave back early gains after a weak start to trading on Wall Street, as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. announced acquisition plans. European investors were focused on deal news.

Consumer products giant Unilever said it will buy U.S.-based Alberto Culver Co. for $3.7 billion in cash. Shares of Unilever advanced 1.3% in London, making it one of the top gainers in the FTSE 100 index, which ended down 0.5% at 5,573.42. Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.3% to 6,278.89.

Shares of Siemens slipped 1.8% on Xetra after the firm said sales and order intake should rise in its main sectors in the fiscal fourth quarter, but that it will likely take restructuring charges in its IT operations and that losses from equity investments will also weigh on the bottom line.

Shares in Swiss drug company Actelion were among the biggest fallers in Europe. The stock tumbled 8% after Actelion said experimental drug clazosentan had failed to achieve the primary goal in a key study.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Brigitte De Lima said the company is now also likely to cancel a related trial of the same drug. U.K. drug giant AstraZeneca dropped 1.6% in London, after a drug being tested for the treatment of prostate cancer failed to improve survival among patients.

Asian market

Asian stock markets ended higher Monday as investors took heart from Wall Street's strong performance Friday, with exporters and resource stocks leading the Tokyo market higher.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.4% and South Korea's Kospi finished 0.8% higher. China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1.0% and Taiwanese stocks inched up 0.3%.

Tokyo stocks rose for the first time in four days as exporter shares gained on hopes the yen might weaken after the Kyodo news service reported that Prime Minister Naoto Kan is likely to instruct his cabinet to draw up an extra budget for the current financial year. Canon climbed 2.5%, Fanuc gained 3.2% and Honda Motor rose 2.9%.

The overall gains were curbed by steep losses in consumer lending stocks, with Aiful down 22% and Acom 10% lower after the Nikkei reported that Takefuji may file for bankruptcy protection as refunds for interest overpayments by borrowers exact a steep toll on its finances.

Base Metals

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange Monday were broadly lower, largely weighed down by lackluster metals trading in China and lower European equity markets. Zinc led the fall in percentage terms followed by lead, aluminum and copper. Nickel and tin were the only metals to buck the trend.

Crude futures were mostly flat Monday, pausing after Friday's sharp rally as traders wait for additional signals on the pace of the economic recovery.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled 3 cents higher at $76.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 30 cents lower at $78.57 a barrel.

Gold futures eked out marginal gains to settle at a new record while silver hit a fresh 30 year high as the popularity of precious metals continued on the back of expectations of further U.S. stimulus money and worries about European sovereign finances.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, rose 50 cents to settle at $1,298.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the metal's eighth record settlement price in the last 10 sessions.

Most active December silver hit $21.645 an ounce, its highest intraday peak since March 2008, while thinly traded nearby September silver rose as high as $21.570, the loftiest silver price since October 1980.