Another Record for S&P 500

The stock market has crept to another record high after U.S. companies announced another handful of deals.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.8 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at an all-time high of 1,951 on Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average nudged up 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,943. The Nasdaq gained 14 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,336.

Hillshire Brands jumped 5 percent after Tyson Foods won a bidding war for the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages.

Family Dollar's stock jumped 13 percent following news that investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in the discount retailer.

The drug company Merck announced a deal to buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals, boosting Idenix's stock by 229 percent.

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