The S&P 500 rose 0.52% to 1,896.55.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.16% to 16,354.30 and the Nasdaq rose 0.85% to 4,295.44.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond was down 0.55% to 2.19%.
The price of gold was up 0.50% to $1,245.20.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based drugmaker Allergan Inc. was up 2% to $180.90 and a market cap of $53.7 billion on merger talk. Allergan investor Paulson & Co. said the company should consider a merger with the Dublin-based pharmaceutical maker Shire Plc, and Allergan’s hostile suitor Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. said it would consider raising its bid to $200 per share in cash and stock. Valeant was up 2.6% to $123.30 and a market cap of $40.3 billion.
OC-based healthcare companies were generally up at midday on sector strength. Irvine-based device maker Edwards Lifesciences Corp. surpassed the $100 threshold, up 2.6% to $101.60 and a market cap of $10.8 billion.
TECHNOLOGY
Irvine-based multimedia company Ubiquity Inc. was up 13.6% to $3.10 and a market cap of $310 million. It closed a private placement of 17 million shares of common stock for $11.1 million. The thinly traded stock had about triple the normal volume at midday.
