CTXS Citrix Systems Inc

By Ellie Ismailidou and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Renewed terror fears rattled European markets

Stock prices marched higher Wednesday, highlighted by a triple-digit gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The advances for Wall Street came as hawkish comments from several Federal Reserve officials boosted rate-hike speculation ahead of the release of the minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting.

Details from the October policy-setting meeting, set to be released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, could solidify expectations for an interest-rate increase at the central bank's December gathering.

"Bearing in mind that these minutes were recorded prior to the fairly stellar jobs number in October, one could expect that any perceived hawkishness will effectively be taken as a green light for a rate hike in December," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group, in a note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 145 points, or 0.8%, to 17,634, while the S&P 500 index was up 16 points, or 0.8%, at 2,066. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 45 points, or 0.9%, to 5,031.

Four regional Fed presidents made hawkish comments Wednesday morning, reassuring investors that they believe the U.S. economy is on solid footing and that they intend to raise interest rates soon. Three of them--New York Fed President William Dudley, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart--appeared at a panel at the Clearing House annual conference in New York and openly backed an interest-rate hike soon, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/three-fed-officials-back-an-interest-rate-hike-soon-2015-11-18) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/three-fed-officials-back-an-interest-rate-hike-soon-2015-11-18)while Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker was interviewed on CNBC.

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/three-fed-officials-back-an-interest-rate-hike-soon-2015-11-18)But Rob Kaplan, the new president of the Dallas Fed, took a middle-of-the-road stance (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dallas-feds-kaplan-sees-costs-for-waiting-too-long-to-hike-rates-2015-11-18) backing the Fed's decisions to hold rates steady so far this year, in light of the economic outlook.

Meanwhile, construction on new homes declined by 11% in October, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, to the lowest level since the early spring (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-starts-fall-11-in-october-but-permits-rebound-2015-11-18). But permits for single-family homes, which account for about three-quarters of the housing market, rose to their highest level since the end of 2007.

Stocks also got a boost from the potential merger between Canadian Pacific and U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/norfolk-southern-reveals-low-premium-bid-from-canadian-pacific-2015-11-17), the latest possible deal after France's Air Liquide said on Tuesday it would purchase Airgas, Inc. (ARG).

These potential mergers, along with the big brewery deals announced last week, could have broader significance for the market, analysts said.

"It seems that growth prospects in mature industries have slowed to the point that many companies are finding the only growth avenue left is to gobble up their competitors," said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in a note.

But the fact that many of the buyers in recent mega transactions are strategic, namely other companies in the industry, rather than financial, such as hedge funds and private-equity firms, means that "many management teams are still seeing value out there," Cieszynski added.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, global investor sentiment was weak after a police raid on a Paris apartment linked to last week's terror attacks.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uropean-stocks-fall-as-manhunt-for-terrorists-grips-paris-2015-11-18) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uropean-stocks-fall-as-manhunt-for-terrorists-grips-paris-2015-11-18)fell, with travel shares under pressure after the raid in a northern Paris suburb (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/at-least-2-dead-as-police-raid-paris-suburb-in-hunt-for-suspected-mastermind-2015-11-18) left two dead and injured several police. Meanwhile, two Air France planes headed to Paris from the U.S. were diverted over security threats Tuesday evening (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/two-air-france-flights-bound-for-paris-diverted-after-security-threats-2015-11-18).

U.S. stocks finished flat on Tuesday (), as strong results from retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. were unable to keep the market elevated as oil prices fell and terror fears rattled investors.

Stocks to watch: Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp.(NSC) surged nearly 7% after the proposed merger.

Citrix Systems, Inc.(CTXS) shares fell almost 9% after the company announced it will spin off its GoTo products into a separate, publicly traded company.

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) shares rose 3% after Goldman Sachs added the iPhone maker to its "conviction buy list" Wednesday morning.

Staples Inc. (SPLS) slid 4.6% as quarterly sales missed Wall Street's target, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/staples-quarterly-sales-miss-wall-streets-mark-2015-11-18) while Target Corp. (TGT) shares fell 4.7% following third-quarter results that missed.

After the close, Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (GMCR) and Salesforce.com (CRM) are among those expected to report.

Airlines could be active, with Air France-KLM SA(AF.FR) down 0.5% in Paris on news of two U.S. planes diverted en route to the French capital and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) down 1%.

Other markets: Alongside weakness for European stocks, most Asian markets didn't have an upbeat day, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping 1% and the Nikkei 225 index finishing flat.

The dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-dollar-mostly-keeps-its-strength-with-fed-minutes-in-focus-2015-11-18) strengthened against major rivals after this morning's barrage of hawkish comments by Fed policy makers. Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rise-but-analysts-say-fundamentals-stay-bearish-2015-11-18) were slightly down, trimming earlier gains after weekly data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in U.S. crude inventories but an unexpected rise in gasoline stocks. Analysts remained focused on supply worries ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries next month.

Gold remained under pressure and was trading near six-year lows.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2015 12:46 ET (17:46 GMT)

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