Dow flirts with new record

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Blue chip stocks gained Friday morning, with the Dow industrials briefly hitting a trading record as investors welcomed possible deals involving components General Electric and Microsoft.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 45.43 to 13,522.15, Charts) added 0.3 percent in the early going, briefly hitting an intraday record of 13,539.54 before retreating a bit.

The broader S&P 500 index (up 6.38 to 1,519.13, Charts) added 0.3 percent, moving closer to its all-time high from March 2000.

The tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 6.38 to 2,545.76, Charts) also added a few points.

Stocks slipped Thursday, with the Dow giving up attempts to end at a record close for the third day in a row due to rising oil prices and mixed economic news.

Friday morning was a bit more positive, thanks to the deal news.

General Electric (up $0.35 to $36.88, Charts, Fortune 500) is reportedly close to selling its plastics business for about $11 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, with about 3 bidders in contention.

And Microsoft (down $0.27 to $30.71, Charts, Fortune 500) said it is buying online ad agency aQuantive (up $27.75 to $63.62, Charts) for $6 billion in cash. aQuantive shares jumped, but Microsoft shares slipped, with analysts saying the company was paying a high premium for the ad firm.

In earnings news, both Nordstrom (up $0.11 to $53.28, Charts, Fortune 500) and Kohl's (up $0.57 to $74.73, Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings after the close of trade late Thursday. Both stocks rose Friday morning.

On the economic front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 88.7 in May from 87.1 last month, topping forecasts.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery rose 64 cents to $65.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $2.30 to $659.50 an ounce.

Treasury prices slipped, pushing the yield on the 10-year note to 4.77 percent from 4.75 percent late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained against the euro and fell against the yen.