Wall Street gaining
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) are higher on news of earnings and mergers.
At 10:52 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 had added 2.28 points, or 0.27%, to 838.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 71.37 points, or 0.52%, to 13,922.45.
Pharmaceutical heavyweight Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) reported unexpectedly positive second-quarter results. The Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based company saw its quarterly profit climb 12% due to higher demand for cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin and cervical-cancer vaccine Gardasil.
In merger news, Houston-based offshore driller GlobalSantaFe Corp. (NYSE: GSF) and city rival Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG) have agreed to a merger of equals.
The merger is expected to close by the end of 2007, after which the combined company will have a market capitalization of about $38 billion.
Elsewhere, private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP will pay $4 billion in cash for equipment rental company United Rentals Inc. (NYSE: URI).
