Dow nears 80-year record

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks gained Monday morning, pushing the Dow industrials further into record territory and the S&P 500 closer to an all-time high as investors welcomed the day's merger news, including Alcoa's $33 billion bid for rival Alcan.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 20.64 to 13,285.26, Charts) gained 0.3 percent about 90 minutes into the session, briefly touching an intraday record of 13,310.70 before pulling back a bit. The blue-chip barometer closed at an all-high Friday for the fourth session in a row.

The Dow has now risen in 23 of the last 26 sessions, marking its longest bull run since the summer of 1927, when the indicator ended higher in 24 of 27 sessions, according to Dow Jones. Should the Dow end higher both Monday and Tuesday, it would set a new record.

The broader S&P 500 (up 3.60 to 1,509.22, Charts) index also rose about 0.3 percent, edging ever closer to its all-time high of 1527.46. That record was hit in March 2000 at the tail end of the last rally, fueled by the 1990s tech boom.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (up 3.21 to 2,575.36, Charts) added 0.2 percent, after ending last week at a six-year high.

Stocks have been on a roll lately, thanks to a mix of strong earnings and merger news.

That continued Monday, led by a proposed deal in the aluminum sector.

Dow component Alcoa (up $2.10 to $37.76, Charts, Fortune 500), the world's largest aluminum producer, made a hostile bid for No. 2 rival Alcan (up $20.76 to $81.79, Charts), worth $33 billion in cash and stock. Alcoa shares jumped 7 percent, while Alcan shares jumped nearly 30 percent.

Over the weekend, Armor Holdings (up $4.45 to $86.60, Charts) agreed to be bought by British defense contractor BAE Systems for $4.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Warren Buffett said his Berkshire Hathaway (up $600.00 to $109,850.00, Charts, Fortune 500) is open to making a major $5 billion to $20 billion investment in a "huge" business. (Full story)

Yahoo (down $0.61 to $30.37, Charts, Fortune 500) shares slipped after surging Friday on rumors that Microsoft (up $0.03 to $30.59, Charts, Fortune 500) was looking to buy it, so as to take on Google (up $0.82 to $471.94, Charts, Fortune 500).

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers four to three on volume of 400 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers and decliners were narrowly mixed on volume of 540 million shares.

Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.64 percent from 4.67 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar slipped against the euro and the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell 53 cents to $61.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold rose 90 cents to $690.60 an ounce.