US stocks rose slightly on Monday as take-over moves in the oil and health-care industries more than offset a slight gain in oil prices and a drop in Merck & Co Inc after the drug maker lost a key court case over its product Vioxx.
The Dow average also got a lift from aircraft maker Boeing Co, up 1 percent at $67.79 after a Russian airline said it would buy some Boeing planes, as well as from consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co, up 1 percent at $55.16, and dominant chip maker Intel Corp, up 1.6 percent at $26.06.
State-owned Chinese oil company CNPC agreed to buy PetroKazakhstan Inc for $4.18 billion, in what would be China's first take-over of a foreign-listed energy company and the latest move in its push to secure more oil. That drove the American depositary receipts of PetroKazakhstan up 18.4 percent to $53.73 on the New York Stock Exchange.
In the health-care sector, OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would buy eye treatment maker Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc Eyetech shares soared almost 30 percent to $18.13 and were among the Nasdaq's top percentage gainers. But OSI plunged nearly 22 percent to $31.92 and was the Nasdaq's biggest percentage loser.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 10.66 points, or 0.10 percent, to end at 10,569.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 2.02 points, or 0.17 percent, to finish at 1,221.73. And the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5.85 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,141.41.
"There's been some deals overseas, and the thinking is mergers beget mergers," said Neil Massa, senior trader at John Hancock Funds in Boston.
In another high-profile deal, Maytag Corp and Whirlpool Corp said they have signed a definitive merger agreement. The deal calls for Whirlpool to acquire Maytag for $21 a share. Maytag's stock was down 0.1 percent, or 2 cents, at $18.69, after climbing as high as $19 earlier. Whirlpool shares fell 0.4 percent, or 35 cents, to $81.48.
But rising oil prices limited stocks' gains.
Energy companies' shares, however, rose in sync with oil prices and helped support both the Dow and the S&P 500. Exxon Mobil Corp, a Dow component, gained 0.4 percent, or 25 cents, to $59.07 on the NYSE. ConocoPhillips, an S&P 500 component, added 0.2 percent, or 14 cents, to $63.21.
But an index of retailers' stocks in the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent on concern that higher oil prices may hurt consumer spending in the year's second half, fund managers said.
Shares of Merck extended Friday's losses, slipping 0.6 percent to $27.89 on the New York Stock Exchange, making it one of the worst performers in the blue chip Dow average. Merck was found liable for a death by a Texas jury on Friday in a case involving its painkiller, Vioxx. Merck said it would appeal the verdict.
The Merck verdict "could be a distraction for a long time," said Stephen Massocca, head of trading and president of Pacific Growth Equities in San Francisco. "It's going to be difficult for other drug companies that face litigation."
Trading was light on the New York Stock Exchange, where advancers beat decliners by a ratio of about 7 to 4, with about 1.22 billion shares changing hands, down from the 1.46 billion daily average for last year.
On Nasdaq, advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of about 3 to 2, with about 1.40 billion shares changing hands, down from the 1.81 billion daily average last year.
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