New York: US stocks jumped on Monday, extending gains from the previous week, on renewed risk-taking sentiment after the Group of 20 pledged to keep economic stimulus in place until a recovery was assured.
Corporate mergers and acquisitions also boosted the market, with General Electric Co gaining 3.5 per cent to $15.86 after a source said GE and Comcast Corp agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast.
Finance ministers and central bankers of the G20 agreed over the weekend to keep government aid flowing, boosting global stocks while pressuring the dollar as high-yielding and commodity-linked currencies benefited.
"The reassurance (G20) is feeding the market and supporting the rally to continue here for some time," said Dan Faretta, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 120.24 points, or 1.20 per cent, at 10,143.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 14.54 points, or 1.36 percent, at 1,083.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 30.58 points, or 1.45 percent, at 2,143.02. Stocks rose 3 percent last week after ending Friday's session slightly higher, shrugging off government data showing the unemployment rate hit 10.2 per cent.
Kraft Foods Inc formalized a proposed takeover of Britain's Cadbury Plc, but failed to improve the terms of its initial approach. Kraft was down nearly 1 per cent at $26.55.
Healthcare companies were in the spotlight after the US House of Representatives approved a healthcare reform bill on Saturday that would include a government-run health insurance option to compete with private insurers.
"It's very clear that the this is not going to be an easy or short process," said Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer at New Jersey-based Advisors Capital Management, adding that the negative impact on the healthcare sector will be limited. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor index was up 1.4 percent, while the Amex Pharmaceutical index rose 1.1 per cent.
Shares of McDonald's Corp gained 1.7 percent to $62.78 after the fast food chain posted a 3.3 per cent increase in global comparable sales. Sprint Nextel Corp is preparing to pump at least $1 billion more into wireless broadband company Clearwire Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two sources.
Sprint Nextel stock added 5.6 percent to $3.01. Oil futures jumped 2.4 percent above $79 a barrel, and gold hit a record high above $1,110 an ounce, as the dollar index slid 1 percent on the outcome of the G20 meeting.
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