NEW YORK (AP) - Positive momentum is driving stocks higher amid another spate of corporate dealmaking.
Major indexes are edging up in pre-market trading Tuesday after Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to buy Chrysler Financial, the automaker's old lending arm, from private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $6.3 billion. Dutch chemicals company Royal DSM NV also says it plans to buy US biotech firm Martek Biosciences Corp.
A wave of positive momentum is also driving stocks forward. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has hit seven new annual highs since Dec. 8.
Ahead of the opening, Dow futures are up 38, or 0.3 percent, to 11,442. S&P 500 futures are up 4, or 0.4 percent, to 1,245. Nasdaq 100 futures are up 7, or 0.3 percent, to 2,226.