Stock indexes eke out tiny gains, led by energy

U.S. stock indexes eked out tiny gains Monday as news of several corporate deals helped lift the market.

Energy stocks led the gainers as the price of crude oil rose for the fifth day in a row. Phone companies were the biggest laggard. Gold fell and the dollar weakened versus the yen and euro.

“There’s not a lot of impetus to move markets today,� said David Schiegoleit, managing director at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank. “The market is just biding time until we get more data.�

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 1.62 points, or 0.1%, to 2,357.16. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.92 points, or 0.01%, to 20,658.02. The Nasdaq composite index added 3.11 points, or 0.1%, to 5,880.93.

Bond prices rose. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.36% from 2.38% late Friday.

Trading was mostly quiet ahead of the Good Friday holiday, when U.S. markets will be closed.

Several oil industry stocks got a boost from rising crude prices. Hess climbed $1.92, or 4%, to $49.97. Rig operator Transocean rose 32 cents, or 2.6%, to $12.75.

Benchmark crude oil closed higher for the fifth day in a row, adding 84 cents, or 1.6%, to $53.08 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, gained 74 cents, or 1.3%, at $55.98 a barrel in London.

Traders bid up shares in several companies announcing deals.

Among them were trucking companies Swift Transportation and Knight Transportation, which agreed to combine in an all-stock deal. Swift shareholders will own a majority of the company, which will be called Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. Swift’s shares added $4.75, or 23.7%, to $24.77, while Knight gained $4.10, or 13.4%, to $34.75.

Straight Path Communications more than doubled after the wireless spectrum license company agreed to be acquired by AT&T in a deal valued at $1.25 billion. Straight Path’s shares gained $55.16, or 151.2%, to $91.64. AT&T slipped 21 cents to $40.38.

The whiff of a potential company sale also drew investors to buy up shares in Whole Foods Market.

The company’s stock jumped 10% after Jana Partners bought an 8.8% stake in the supermarket chain. The stock was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, adding $3.10 to $34.17.

Major stock indexes overseas were mixed Monday.

Germany’s DAX inched down 0.2%, while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.7%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.9%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was steady.

Among metals, gold finished down $3.40 at $1,253.90. Silver lost 24 cents to $17.92 an ounce. Copper declined 4 cents to $2.60 a pound.

In currency trading, the dollar fell to 110.94 yen from 111.15 yen late Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.0596 from $1.0588.

UPDATES:

1 p.m.: This article has been updated with afternoon trading results.

2:25 p.m.: This article has been updated with results for the market close.

The article was originally published at 7:45 a.m.