* Dell gains after results handily beats estimates
* Sanofi-Aventis to buy Genzyme for $20.1 bln
* Peltz's Trian bids for Family Dollar Stores
* Indexes up: Dow 0.6 pct, S&P 0.7 pct, Nasdaq 0.8 pct (Updates to late morning, changes byline)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected Dell earnings and a flurry of deal news.
The benchmark S&P 500 rose above 1,333.58, double the intraday low hit in early March 2009.
Dell Inc, the world's No. 2 personal computer maker, flew past profit and margins estimates in the latest show of strength from corporate America that has helped lift stocks. Dell jumped 9.9 percent to $15.28.
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA agreed to buy Genzyme Corp for $20.1 billion in cash, pushing up Genzyme shares 1.6 percent to $75.48.
In another proposed deal, activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Group offered to acquire Family Dollar Stores Inc for $55 to $60 per share in cash, giving the company an implied value of $7.6 billion. Family Dollar soared 23.7 percent to $54.40.
Merger and acquisition activity has picked up, raising investor hopes it will bring more fresh cash into the market.
"It seems as if the market has a very strong bid underneath stock prices. There seems to be a desire to get invested. So any time there's a pullback, if the next day there's a hint of good news," the market bounces back, said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.
"It's a market that people in general are trying to get back involved with," he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.07 points, or 0.60 percent, at 12,299.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 9.37 points, or 0.71 percent, at 1,337.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index put on 23.17 points, or 0.83 percent, at 2,827.52.
Even though the market slipped on Tuesday from 2-1/2-year highs, stocks have been rallying since early September, with the S&P 500 up more than 25 percent in that period.
Trian's bid for Family Dollar helped shares of other discount retailers. Dollar Tree Inc was up 4.3 percent to $53.14 while Dollar General Corp rose 13 percent to $30.39.