Stocks edge higher, but oil price worries persist

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on word of two multi-billion dollar takeover deals, but rising oil prices are limiting the gains.

Oil hit a two-year high, moving above $106 a barrel.

French fashion conglomerate LVMH says it will buy Italian jeweler Bulgari for $6 billion. Hard drive maker Western Digital plans to buy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies for $4.3 billion.

In the opening minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 56 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,226.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,327. The Nasdaq composite is up 8 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,792.