NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks edged higher Monday on a quiet day for the market ahead of a busy weak for corporate earnings.
EMC climbed after Dell said it would acquire the data storage company for $67 billion. Energy stocks slumped as the price of oil fell sharply following a report that showed OPEC members are keeping up production even after a big drop in prices over the last year.
Investors will be focusing on corporate earnings this week as they try to assess the impact that slowing global growth is having on company profits. Analysts are projecting that earnings contracted more than 5 percent in the third quarter as overseas demand weakened. JPMorgan Chase, Intel and Johnson & Johnson are among companies that will publish their earnings in coming days.
While the stock market was open Monday, bond trading was closed in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.57 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,017.46. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47.37 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,131.86. The Nasdaq composite climbed 8.17 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,838.64.