Technology companies lead stocks higher

NEW YORK (AP) — Technology companies led stocks higher today after Texas Instruments Inc. said it planned on buying National Semiconductor.

National Semiconductor soared 71 percent to $24.11. Texas Instruments said late Monday that it would acquire the chip maker for $6.5 billion, or $25 a share. Texas Instruments rose 1.5 percent.

Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp, rose the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Stocks had edged lower in early trading, following most world markets, after China raised a key lending rate and the rating agency Moody’s lowered Portugal’s credit rating.

Crude oil prices are trading above $108 a barrel as unrest in the Middle East continues to raise doubts about future supplies.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,406. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2 to 1,335. The Nasdaq composite rose 11, or 0.4 percent, to 2,799.