Bucking the global trend to losses on the session, Wall Street was higher at mid-day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.46 percent to 13,564.21, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.38 percent to 2,649.17 and the S&P 500 gained 0.47 percent to 1,517.15.
Mergers and acquisitions were in focus as rumors surfaced that Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) could be interested in purchasing Anglo-Dutch consumer goods manufacturer Unilever (NYSE: UN; LSE: ULVR; Euronext: UNA).
Colgate added 19 cents to $65.96, while Unilever was $1.45 higher to $34.56.
Aluminium producer Alcoa (NYSE: AA) added 62 cents to $42.28, the biggest gain on the Dow, on talk that its bid for Alcan (NSYE: AL; TSX: AL) could be challenged by a competing bid from Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO).
Alcan was up to $42.23.
Fast food operator Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) added $1.37 to $34.17 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657).
Yum was scheduled to release its quarterly results after the close of trade on the day.
Also due to report at the end of the session was Genentech (NYSE: DNA), which was even at $74.85 around mid-session.
In the oil sector, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) added $1.22 to $90.22 after a statement released after Tuesday’s close that it expects its quarterly results to benefit from higher prices and refining margins.