Dow Jones industrials trade above 26,000

Associated Press

Stocks are trading higher on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average trading above 26,000 for the first time.

Health care and technology companies posted some of the biggest gains in midday trading today.

Merck jumped 7 percent and chipmaker Qualcomm gained 3.3 percent.

Energizer Holdings surged 15 percent after the company said it will acquire the battery and lighting assets of Spectrum.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 6 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,793.

The Dow industrials gained 159 points, or 0.6 percent, to 25,958. It was up as much as 282 points earlier.

The Nasdaq composite rose 22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,281.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.53 percent.