AIG climbed as much as 7.7 percent after MetLife Inc. said it will buy its American Life Insurance Co. McDonald’s Corp. gained 2 percent for the biggest advance in a month after global sales at the world’s largest restaurant company topped estimates. Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. dragged a measure of health-care shares in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lower. Hewlett-Packard Co., the largest personal-computer maker, fell after reducing its first-quarter profit.

The S&P 500 drifted between gains and losses and was down 0.1 percent at 1,137.18 at 11:30 a.m. in New York. An advance today would be the seventh straight gain for the benchmark index, marking the longest rally since 2006. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 18.75 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,547.45.

U.S. stocks advanced last week for the third time in four weeks after reports on employment and consumer spending bolstered speculation that economic growth will extend a yearlong rally.

“Economic news is becoming more positive,” said Jacques Porta, a fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine in Paris, which oversees about $425 million in equities. “Speculation on Greece has calmed. Investors are returning to the market. The nervousness is subsiding.”