New York: Google and Dell plan to push ahead with more acquisitions, helping maintain a takeover spree that has boosted the value of US technology mergers to more than $60bn this year.

Microsoft unveiled the largest acquisition in the software group's history with the proposed $6bn (€4.44bn) takeover of US online advertising firm aQuantive.

Wall Street managed a moderate advance today as a spate of takeover deals gave investors enough confidence to buy into the market despite a report showing that US manufacturing is more sluggish than expected.

Wall Street extended its retreat today after downbeat forecasts from companies such as eBay prompted investor worries that the market had risen too far. The three main indexes finished mixed for the week.