Last updated March 10, 2010: 12:30 PM ET --- The major U.S. equity indices are trading mixed Wednesday as more M&A news emerges and after the government reported a drop in companies' inventories in January. The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories fell 0.2% in January after falling 1% in December. However, companies' sales rose 1.3%, which is the 10th straight gain. In corporate news, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) is considering another acquisition in the U.S. and is looking for a retail bank that will give it more deposits and extend the presence of its Barclays Capital unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) is interested in U.S. banks with $10 billion in assets or more to add to its consumer lending business, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited James Westlake. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is trading 0.20% lower at 10,543.00, the S&P500 (INX) is trading 0.15% higher at 1,142.16, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is trading 0.46% higher at 2,351.35.