US Stocks Jump After Deal Announcements, Commodities Rise
October 24 2011 - 1:58PM
Dow Jones News
U.S. stocks rose, pushing the Nasdaq Composite into positive
territory for the year, as investors reacted to strong results from
Caterpillar, a set of merger announcements and signs of progress
toward a debt deal in Europe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 99 points, or 0.8%, to
11907 in midafternoon action. The Dow surged 267 points on Friday
to close at a 2 1/2-month high, stretching its weekly winning
streak to four weeks, the longest since January 2011.
Caterpillar was head-and-shoulders above over all other
blue-chip stocks, gaining 5.4% after the maker of construction and
mining equipment reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that
beat expectations. The company raised its outlook for the full
year.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 15 points, or
1.2%, to 1253, led by materials, financials and technology stocks.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 58 points, or 2.2%, to 2695.
The day brought a spate of deal announcements. Cigna added 0.7%
after making a bet on Medicare with a $3.8 billion deal for
HealthSpring, which surged 34%. HealthSpring focuses on Medicare
Advantage, which provides elderly people Medicare services through
private companies.
Oracle rose 1.9% and RightNow Technologies surged 19% after the
business-software company said it would buy the cloud-computing
firm in a deal valued at $1.43 billion.
Sara Lee sold the majority of its North American food-service
coffee and tea operations to J.M. Smucker Co. for $350 million in
cash. Sara Lee edged down 0.2% and Smucker shares added 0.7%.
Mattel agreed to buy HIT Entertainment, which sells the Bob the
Builder and Fireman Sam toy lines, for $680 million, from a
consortium led by Apax Partners funds. The deal also gives Mattel
ownership of well-known preschool brands Thomas & Friends and
Barney. Mattel rose 2.7%.
Telecom networking systems provider Juniper Networks also fueled
merger hopes. The company is looking at potential acquisition
targets in Asia, its top executive said in an interview. Shares
added 5.5%.
"Merger Monday is keeping a bid under a lot of stocks," said
Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners. "It indicates
that we continue to have companies looking for ways to gain revenue
that they're not able to get organically."
Prices of key commodities jumped, among them copper. Used in a
wide range of industries, the metal is often termed "Dr. Copper"
for its sensitivity to the macroeconomic growth outlook. The most
actively traded copper contract, for December delivery, recently
traded up 21 cents, or 6.5%, to $3.433 a pound on the Comex
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude-oil futures surged 4.5% to $91.30 a barrel. Gold futures
rallied 1% to $1651.60 an ounce in recent action.
European stocks finished broadly higher. The Stoxx Europe 600
rose 1.3% amid optimism that European leaders were near a deal on
expanding the euro zone's bailout fund. Germany's DAX gained 1.4%.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas
Sarkozy said over the weekend that they had made progress toward a
broad agreement on dealing with Europe's debt crisis. The news
overshadowed data showing that economic activity in the euro zone's
private sector contracted faster than expected this month.
"The markets are realizing that this is a political process,"
said Wayne Lin, portfolio manager for Legg Mason Global Asset
Allocation. "[Investors] realize that this is going to be a long,
drawn-out process with fits and starts of market volatility."
Asian markets rose broadly following data showing China's
manufacturing sector expanded in October for the first time since
March. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 4.1%.
The U.S. dollar lost ground versus the euro and the yen.
In corporate news, Kimberly-Clark lost 5%. The company cut its
sales outlook as the maker of Huggies diapers continues to be
hampered by weak demand for baby products in developed markets.
WebMD Health jumped 11%. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn on
Friday disclosed a 7.9% stake in the online medical information
site.
Netflix, which reports results after the closing bell, lost
1%.
-By Brendan Conway, Dow Jones Newswires; (212) 416-2670;
brendan.conway@dowjones.com
Rightnow Technologies, Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:RNOW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Rightnow Technologies, Inc. (MM) (NASDAQ:RNOW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024