Stocks Climb on Merger News

  • March 20, 2007
  • Darren Wong

The U.S. stock markets were lifted
today by further speculation on takeovers and a possible bottom in
the subprime sector.  This was despite a report that showed
housing starts fell for the 12th time in the past 13 months.

Crude futures closed
fractionally lower to
$56.41 per barrel as traders were cautious prior to tomorrow’s
Energy Department report. 
Gold futures continued to rise as the US dollar weakens. 
Gold for April delivery rose $4.70, or 0.7%, to $659.00 ounce.


Around Europe, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 6,220.30,
while France’s CAC 40 index gained 0.8% to 5,503.27 and Germany’s
DAX index climbed 0.4% to 6,700.29.




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Stocks in
Motion

Founder Of Affiliated Computer Services
(
ACS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Offers To Take Company Private For $59.25 Per Share (full
story).  ACS shares rose by 17%.


U.S. Subprime Lender Accredited
(
LEND |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Perks Up In Early Trade On
Receiving $200 Mln Loan Commitment (full
story).  LEND shares jumped by 20%.

FactSet Research
(
FDS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) Q2 Profit Soars
38% On Top Line Growth; Raises Dividend; Board Approves Addl. $100 Mln Buyback;
Guides Q3 (full
story).  FDS shares gained 0.5%.

Barclays
(
BCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), ABN Amro
(
ABN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
Confirm Preliminary Discussions On Potential Combination (full
story).  ABN shares moved lower by 0.3%, while BCS shares climbed 3.2%.

For more stories as they happen, go to our
Breaking News section.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 +61.93 12,288.10

NASDAQ

 +13.80 2,408.21

S&P 500

 +8.88 1,410.94

 

 NYSE NASDAQ

Volume

 2,791,912,000 1,703,850,000

Advances

 2257 1944

Declines

 1010 1063

Up Volume

 1871 1210

Down Volume

 773 437

New Highs

 152 94

New Lows

 18 65



Strongest/Weakest Sectors

Strongest Sectors

Weakest Sectors
GSTI Services Index (GSV) Morgan Stanley Healthcare Providers Index (RXH)
Amex Airline Index (XAL) Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payors Index (HMO)
Nasdaq Transportation Index (TRANX) Dow Jones Equity RElT Index (DJR)


Economic
News

Housing Starts 1525K vs 1445K
consensus

Building Permits 1532K vs 1550K consensus

Darren Wong

Associate Editor

darrenw@tradingmarkets.com