NEW YORK: The Dow and S&P 500 edged to fresh records on Friday as the chances rose for GE's acquisition of parts of France's Alstom and fighting in Iraq sent oil prices higher.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.05 (0.18 percent) to 16,951.51, a new high.
The S&P 500 advanced 3.56 (0.18 percent) to 1,963.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 8.71 (0.20 percent) to 4,368.04
General Electric's campaign to buy Alstom's energy assets for $16.8 billion appeared within striking reach after the French government endorsed the deal.
As part of the deal, France will take a dominant 20 percent stake in Alstom by buying buy two-thirds of the shares owned by French group Bouygues.
GE's offer was taken over a rival bid by Germany's Siemens and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Dow component GE rose 0.2 percent to $26.98.
Meanwhile, US oil prices moved to a fresh nine-month high of $107.26 a barrel as the battle against Sunni extremists showed no signs of abating. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, called on people to unite to fight the insurgents.
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