Traser Michael Urkonis, left, and specialist Frank Masiello work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Dec. 9, 2013. The stock market is opening little changed following last week's strong U.S. jobs report. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK — The stock market notched another record close Monday after a big acquisition in the food industry. Hope for a longer-term budget deal in Washington also helped.
Food distributor Sysco rose the most in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index after the company announced an agreement to buy rival US Foods in an $8.2 billion deal. Sysco’s stock jumped $3.31, or 9.7 percent, to $37.62.
Stocks extended a rally from Friday that was driven by a report of solid U.S. job gains. That boosted investor confidence that the economy was growing strongly enough to handle any pullback in the Federal Reserve’s economic stimulus.
“We’re just continuing the bullishness that we’ve had,” said Rex Macey, chief investment officer of Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors.
