NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday, led by gains for the health care sector, after drugmaker Mylan announced a $29 billion bid for Perrigo.
Investors were also parsing the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting for clues about the timing of a possible interest rate increase.
They were waiting for companies to start reporting their first-quarter earnings. Alcoa, a metals company, will be one of the first major companies to report earnings after the close of the market.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up two points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,080 as of 2:56 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones industrial average was up two points at 17,877. The Nasdaq composite gained 27 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,938.
PHARMA DEAL: Mylan, a generic drugmaker that recently left Europe for the U.S., jumped $8.66, or 15 percent, to $68.44 after the company offered $29 billion in stock and cash for Perrigo. If they combine the two companies will be one of the world's largest makers of generic and over-the-counter medicines. Perrigo jumped $32.31, or 19.6 percent, to $197.02.
NOTES OF A MEETING: Fed officials disagreed widely last month on when they might begin lifting interest rates from record lows. Minutes of the March meeting revealed that several policy makers favored a rate hike in June, while others were concerned about low inflation. Policy makers have held the Fed's benchmark rate at close to zero for more than six years.
EARNINGS: Companies are set to start reporting earnings for the first quarter. Earnings per share are projected to decline by about 3 percent for S&P 500 companies, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That would be the first contraction since the third quarter of 2009, when the economy was emerging from the Great Recession.
A big slump in oil prices last year his crimped profits at energy companies, and a surging dollar is hurting the earnings of big multinational corporations.
THE QUOTE: David O'Malley of Penn Mutual Asset Management, says that earnings may turn out worse than analysts are currently expecting. That's because executives will have an incentive to "get a lot of things out of the way," in the first quarter because earnings are already forecast to be negative. For example, they may decide to write down the value of assets earlier.
"The equity market is a little bit vulnerable here, especially if earnings are a bit worse," said O'Malley.
EUROPE'S DAY: Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent while France's CAC 40 dropped 0.3 percent. Germany's DAX slipped 0.7 percent.
ENERGY DEAL: Royal Dutch Shell agreed to buy BG Group for $69.7 billion in cash and stock. Energy companies are looking to reduce costs and become more efficient in the wake of tumbling oil prices and can do that by combining businesses. Christian Stadler, associate professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School, said the deal "could be the beginning of a new wave of mega-mergers in the sector."
Shell's stock fell 7 percent in London while BG Group's soared 32 percent.
ENERGY: Oil slumped the most in two months after a report showed a big increase in U.S. stockpiles. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $3.56 to $50.42 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell $3.55 to $55.55 a barrel in London.
BONDS AND CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 1.89 percent. The dollar fell to 120.06 yen from 120.30 yen Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.0799 from $1.0823.
METALS: Gold fell $7.50 to $1,203.10 an ounce, silver fell 39 cents to $16.45 an ounce and copper fell three cents to $16.45 a pound.