"I think the movie will end well and we'll be smiling but there may be some scenes where we just have to take our eyes away from the screen," he said.
DaimlerChrysler AG shares surged US$3.81, or 4.7 percent, to US$84.80 after billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp approached the German automaker's board about acquiring its US-based Chrysler division.
He has held stakes in Chrysler since the 1990s, a decade after he lost out on a deal to acquire the full company. Kerkorian said he would offer Chrysler a stake in the company.
Micron Technology Inc pressured technology stocks after the flash memory maker posted disappointing second-quarter results late Wednesday.
The company swung to a loss as costs swelled and prices weakened. Shares fell US$0.56, or 4.6 percent, to US$11.51.
Advancing issues on Thursday outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 2.31 billion shares, compared with 2.61 billion shares traded on Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.56, or 0.32 percent, to 813.35.
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