Deals send stocks edging higher on Wall Street

8/26/2013

NEW YORK — A handful of corporate deals helped nudge the stock market higher despite a disappointing report on the economy.

Amgen surged after the biotech giant said it plans to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals for $10.4 billion. The deal would give Amgen three approved cancer treatments and several others in clinical trials.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,667 as of noon today.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 24 points, or 0.2 percent, to 15,034. The Nasdaq composite rose 21 points, or 0.6 percent, at 3,679.

Orders for long-lasting manufactured goods plunged 7.3 percent last month, the steepest drop in nearly a year.

Amgen gained $9.64, or 9 percent, to $115.29. Onyx rose $6.62, or 6 percent, to $123.58.