Stocks Opened Slightly Higher, Oil Prices Jumped

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Monday, amid a renewed push higher for oil prices, as the market got a boost from a flurry of mergers and acquisitions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 69.82 points, or 0.40%, to 17,605.14. The S&P 500 was up 6.88 points, or 0.34%, to 2,053.49. The Nasdaq Composite gained 20.54 points, or 0.44%, to 4,738.21.

Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent on Monday to their highest since November 2015 on the back of more disruption to supplies from Nigeria and after long-time bear Goldman Sachs said it was more positive about the market. Brent crude futures were trading at $49.05 per barrel at 1304 GMT, up $1.23 or 2.5 percent. U.S. crude futures were up $1.23, or 2.5 percent, at $47.44 a barrel.

Pfizer Inc is buying Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc in a $5.2 billion deal to add an eczema gel to its portfolio, a month after the U.S. drug major scrapped plans to buy Allergan Plc.

Gannett Co., which owns USA TODAY and more than 100 local news properties nationwide, said Monday it raised its offer to buy Tribune Publishing Co. to $15 per share, dialing up the pressure after its earlier bid was rejected by Tribune’s board of directors despite some shareholders’ call for a negotiation.

In a new regulatory filing, Berkshire disclosed that it owned 9,811,747 shares of the iPhone maker at the end of the first quarter. At the time, the position was worth $1.069 billion.

Allergan plc (AGN) said Monday it had positive results in two trials of its Oculeve Intranasal Tear Neurostimulator, OCUN-OO9 and OCUN-010, after both met their primary endpoints.