Wall St rallied overnight thanks largely to two multi-billion dollar merger announcements which boosted optimism about share values and spurred investors to jump back into equities.
To the figures, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 124 points to 9,789. The S&P500 Index rose 19 points to 1,063 and the NASDAQ added 40 points to 2,131.
In company news: Shares in health care products manufacturer Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) advanced 2.64 per cent to $48.58. The company is to acquire the drug unit of Belgian pharmaceutical company Solvay for around $6.6 billion in cash.
Shares in document equipment developer and manufacturer Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) lost 14.48 per cent to $7.68 and shares in outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services Inc (NYSE:ACS) gained 13.99 per cent to $53.86. Xerox is to buy Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion in a cash and stock deal.
Shares in rural communications services company Fairpoint Communications Inc (NYSE:FRP) plunged 30.3 per cent to $0.46. The company is reportedly in discussions with its financiers on a restructuring plan which, according to Reuters, could see it file for bankruptcy protection.
And shares in chemical company The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) added 4.93 per cent to $26.39. The company says the Federal Trade Commission has given it the green light for it to sell Morton Salt to Germany’s K+S AG for $1.68 billion.
Checking the NASDAQ Top 100: The best performer overnight was Joy Global, adding 4.56 per cent to $48.41, followed by Garmin and Cisco Systems. On the downside, Steel Dynamics was the worst performer down 3.99 per cent to $15.88, followed by Research in Motion and First Solar also closed lower.
