US stocks have closed little-changed but the S&P 500 picked up enough for a new record as a possible Halliburton-Baker Hughes merger sparked buying in the oil services sector.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 18.05 points (0.10 per cent) at 17,634.74 on Friday.

The broad-market S&P 500 added 0.49 points (0.02 per cent) at 2,039.82, slipping past the previous record by 0.14 point.

Meanwhile the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 8.40 (0.18 per cent) at 4,688.54.

Confirmation that Halliburton is in negotiations to buy rival Baker Hughes lit up oil service sector shares.

No details on pricing or other issues were given, but analysts expect Halliburton to pay a premium over what was Baker Hughes’ $US22 billion ($A23.80 billion) market valuation before the news of the talks leaked out on Thursday.

Baker Hughes closed up 1.9 per cent on Friday after Thursday’s 15 per cent gain, putting its value at $US25.9 billion.

Halliburton shares meanwhile gained 2.4 per cent and industry powerhouse Schlumberger rose 0.5 per cent on the news, while shares of smaller service companies, especially fracking specialists, also surged.

Networking technology specialist Cisco Systems registered a second day of gains, rising 2.5 per cent, after its slightly forecast-beating fiscal first-quarter results released on Wednesday.

Shares of car rental agency Hertz sank 4.6 per cent after it confirmed plans to restate earnings for 2012 and 2013 amid a probe into the company’s accounting.

Amazon surged 3.5 per cent a day after it ended a dispute with publisher Hachette over book pricing.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.32 per cent from 2.35 per cent Thursday, while the 30-year fell to 3.04 per cent from 3.08 per cent.

Bond prices and yields move inversely.