Stocks rise amid hunger for deals

Stocks again broke records Tuesday as investors came back from a long weekend hungry for deals. Although Kraft Heinz and Unilever couldn’t agree to a proposed mega-deal, food and household goods makers rose as investors bet other deals are coming. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed at new record highs.

Companies that make packaged foods, everyday household items and other consumer goods are usually seen as stable investments and rarely take center stage on Wall Street. But Tuesday they did just that, because investors believe that the failed Kraft Heinz-Unilever deal will be replaced by other deals. Oreo maker Mondelez and jam maker Smucker made the largest gains.

Kraft Heinz and Unilever both slumped after Kraft withdrew a $143-billion offer to buy its rival. Unilever said the offer was too low and the companies said Kraft Heinz was giving up its effort. Unilever, the maker of Hellman’s, Lipton and Knorr, slid 7.5% to $44.87. Kraft Heinz, which owns Oscar Mayer, Jell-O and Velveeta, fell 1.8% to $94.87.

Analysts think that Kraft Heinz is still interested in buying another firm. Unilever’s shareholders might push that company to make a deal too, Jefferies & Co. analyst Kevin Grundy said.

Mondelez climbed 5.8% and J.M. Smucker rose 4.4%, while cereal makers General Mills and Kellogg gained 3% and 2.5%, respectively. Household goods makers Colgate-Palmolive, Kim1.9% berly-Clark and Clorox all jumped.

Restaurant Brands International, the company that owns the Burger King and Tim Hortons brands, agreed to buy Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion, or $79 a share. Popeyes climbed 19.1% to $78.73. Restaurant Brands’ stock jumped 6.9% to $57.60.

Scripps Networks, the parent of Food Network, Travel Channel and HGTV, climbed 7.2% to $81.50 after it reported better ratings and stronger ad sales. Discovery Communications, the parent of TLC and Animal Planet, rose 3.3% to $29.62. News Corp, which owns the Fox cable channels, advanced to $13.33.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 66 cents to $54.06 a barrel. Brent crude rose 48 cents to $56.66 a barrel. Natural gas plunged 27 cents, or 9.5%, to $2.56 per 1,000 cubic feet, its lowest price in almost a year. Wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to $1.49 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1 cent to $1.64 a gallon.

The dollar rose to 113.58 yen from 112.93 yen. The euro sank to $1.0547 from $1.0607.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.43% from 2.42%.

Gold slipped 20 cents to $1,238.90 an ounce. Silver fell 3 cents to $18 an ounce. Copper rose 4 cents to $2.75 a pound.