Strong earnings results, a flurry of merger and acquisition news and signs of normal economic activity in Egypt helped the markets to move up higher on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.57% to end at 12,161.55. The S&P 500 moved up 0.62%, or 8.18 points, to close at 1,319.05. Additionally, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index gained 14.69 points or 0.53% to close at 2,783.99. On the New York Stock Exchange, breadth of the market was light with only 6.89 billion shares traded.
On the economic front, there were no releases on Monday that could have a significant impact on the markets. However, in a speech at the US Chamber of Commerce, President Barrack Obama urged businessmen to begin investing afresh and to create more jobs assuring them the White House will make regulations more business friendly and innovative. In other news, the Federal Reserve has said consumer borrowings for the month of December increased by $6.1 billion with borrowing in the credit card category rising 3.5%, the first such increase since 2008. However, overall borrowing is still at 6.6% below the July 2008 peak.
Coming to international news, Egyptian Government officials made an effort to end political turmoil in the country, meeting with opposition leaders on Sunday. The tense situation has halted all normal operations for nearly about two weeks in Cairo. The stock market remained closed on Monday but banks began to operate adding a sigh of relief to citizens of the panic stricken country. Major stock markets from around the world closed in the green. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5%, London's FTSE and the DAX in Germany gained 0.8% and 0.9% respectively.
Coming to earnings news, shares of Sysco Corp SYY slid 6.2% after the company's lower-than-expected fourth quarter profit came in 4% lower due to rising food costs. Sysco is the largest food distributor in the U.S. Shares of Loews Corp L gained 4.5% to reach $43.27 after the company reported better than expected earnings results which saw a surge of 16% in its profits. Cigarettes maker Lorillard Inc's LO share prices increased 2% after the company reported it has increased sales and prices of its products. Hasbro Inc's HAS share prices increased 1.8% after the company released its earnings results. Although the company posted a 15% decline in fourth quarter profit, it still beat analyst's expectations.
On to some merger and acquisition news, shares of Danahar Corp DHR gained 2.2% to end at $49.03 after the company reported its plans to buy biomedical testing equipment maker Beckman Coutler BEC for $6.8 million or roughly $83.59 a share. Reacting to the news, share prices of Beckman Coutler BEC rocketed 9.9% to $82.65. AOL AOL has also made public its plans to buy online news site The Huffington Post, for $315 million. The company has also named site's co-founder Arianna Huffington as president and editor-in-chief. Share prices of AOL AOL slipped 3.45 to close at $21.19. Wesco Financial's WSC share prices rose 1.8% to $387.50 after Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway BRK agreed to buy the remaining 19.9% stake. The deal is reported to be worth $547.6 million. Ensco ESV said it plans to acquire Pride International PDE for $41.60 a share in cash and stock. Reacting to the news, shares of Ensco ESV fell 4.2% to $52.13 and shares of Pride International PDE rocketed 15.7% to close at $39.80.
AOL INC (AOL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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BERKSHIRE HTH-A (BRK.A): Free Stock Analysis Report
DANAHER CORP (DHR): Free Stock Analysis Report
ENSCO PLC (ESV): Free Stock Analysis Report
HASBRO INC (HAS): Free Stock Analysis Report
LOEWS CORP (L): Free Stock Analysis Report
LORILLARD CO (LO): Free Stock Analysis Report
PRIDE INTL INC (PDE): Free Stock Analysis Report
SYSCO CORP (SYY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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