NEW YORK: US stocks jumped one percent yesterday, with the S&P 500 climbing to an all-time high as optimism over merger activity helped Wall Street erase this year’s early weakness.
Gains were broad, with nine of the 10 S&P 500 sectors up on the day and a number of bellwethers, including Caterpillar Inc and Merck & Co, hitting 52-week highs. With the day’s gains, the S&P 500 turned positive for the year while the Nasdaq hit a 14-year high. More than two-thirds of companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange rose on the day, while 63 percent of Nasdaq-listed companies gained.
“People are recognising that while some economic data has been muted, there is still a lot of value in the market based on corporate cash positions and multiples. From a perspective of overall fundamentals, things look pretty good, especially relative to other asset classes,” said Matthew Keator, partner in the Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts.
RF Micro Devices Inc agreed to buy TriQuint Semiconductor Inc for about $1.6bn, while Men’s Wearhouse Inc raised its cash tender offer for rival men’s clothing retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc to $63.50 per share from $57.50.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.13 percent at 16,284.91. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 1.15 percent at 1,857.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.07 percent at 4,309.03. Despite the day’s gains, many investors were concerned that markets were becoming over-valued as recent economic data failed to meet expectations, though the weak data has largely been blamed on harsh winter weather rather than worsening fundamentals.Reuters
