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New York • Stocks moved higher in early trading Monday as investors responded to the latest round of corporate deals, putting the Standard & Poor's 500 index back into record territory.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 rose 14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,851 in the first half-hour of trading, slightly above its record high close of 1,848 reached on Jan. 15. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 130 points, or 0.8 percent, to 16,234 and the Nasdaq composite rose 33 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,297.
SUIT SAGA: Jos. A Bank rose $4.37, or 8 percent, to $59.40 after Men's Wearhouse increased its offer for the clothing retailer by 10 percent. Men's Wearhouse rose $2.94, or 7 percent $48.06.
ICAHN'S LATEST TARGET: EBay rose $2.08, or 4 percent, to $56.65 after the activist shareholder Carl Icahn disclosed a 2 percent stake in the company. Icahn is looking to replace several members of eBay's board of directors.
THE CHIPS ARE UP: RF Micro Devices jumped 83 cents, or 14 percent, to $6.64 after the chip maker said it was combining with TriQuint Semiconductor in an all-stock deal valued at about $1.56 billion. TriQuint soared $1.73, or 19 percent, to $10.95.
STREAMING DEAL: Netflix and Comcast agreed to a deal to ensure that the online video services' TV shows and movies are streamed smoothly. No details were released about the cost to Netflix. Comcast gained 76 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $51.81 and Netflix edged down 50 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $431.79.
TREASURYS AND COMMODITIES: Bond prices were flat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged from Friday at 2.74 percent. The price of oil rose 16 cents to $102.32 a barrel. Gold increased $11.20 to $1,334.80 an ounce.