NEW YORK - The stock market ended higher Monday, but a late fade kept the Standard & Poor’s 500 index from closing at an all-time high.
The market marched broadly higher most of the day, helped by optimism about the economy and more corporate mergers, only to slowly lose momentum in the final half-hour of trading.
The S&P 500 rose 11.36 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,847.61 - just short of its record close of 1,848.38 set Jan. 15. The momentum helped the index set a new intraday high of 1,858.76 earlier in the day.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 103.84 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,207.14, and the Nasdaq composite rose 29.56 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,292.97.
Investors had little economic data or corporate earnings to work through, so much of Monday’s focus was on another round of corporate deal-making.
Chipmaker RF Micro Devices jumped $1.22, or 21 percent, to $7.03 after it said would buy a competitor, TriQuint Semiconductor, in an all-stock deal valued about $1.56 billion. TriQuint soared $2.41, or 26 percent, to $11.64.
Meanwhile, men’s clothing chain Jos. A. Bank rose $4.99, or 9 percent, to $60.04 after competitor Men’s Wearhouse increased its buyout offer. Men’s Wearhouse rose $3.40, or 8 percent, $48.51.
Mergers and acquisitions have taken off this year. Last week, Forest Laboratories and Actavis announced a $25 billion merger, and Facebook said it was buying WhatsApp for $19 billion.
Companies buying competitors, or buying up a company whose product interests them, should be seen as a positive for stocks, market watchers say.
“It shows that companies still see value in this market, even at these highs,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial.
In the last two-and-a-half weeks, the stock market has erased most of the losses it experienced after a difficult start to the year.
The S&P 500 was down as much 6 percent for the year as of February 3 as investors worried about emerging markets in China and Turkey. The U.S. economic recovery was also showing signs of slowing growth.
But the U.S. stock market has recovered as overseas markets calmed.
The S&P 500’s 1,850-point level continues to be a ceiling for investors trying to bid stocks higher. The index has nearly closed above 1,850 three times in the last three months, falling short each time.
Investors have a chance to test all-time highs after economic reports come out later this week.
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Economic reports this week include durable-goods orders and U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product.
Government bond prices were flat Monday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged from Friday at 2.74 percent. The price of oil rose 62 cents to $102.82 a barrel. Gold rose $14.40 to $1,338 an ounce.
Business, Pages 22 on 02/25/2014