Wall St Closing Bell Shayne Heffernan

US stocks rallied again overnight as an uptick in mergers and acquisitions and signs of progress in securing European financial backing for the debt in Greece eased investor fears.

Adding to optimism, fertilizer maker CF Industries raised its hostile bid for Terra Industries Inc, while Dow Chemical said it will sell one of its units that make latex, rubber and related plastics to private equity firm Bain Capital Partners.

We have been seeing some big M&A deals yesterday and today, and the market certainly loves this activity. It shows that companies, not just average investors, are finding value in the future of market place.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 27.66 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 10,431.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 4.91 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 1120.62. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.04 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 2283.61.

Greece’s borrowing costs fell to their lowest level in weeks amid expectations the government will announce new austerity measures to win European debt guarantees for the cash-strapped European Union member.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, Wall Street’s favorite measure of investor anxiety, fell more than 3 per cent to 18.67.

CF Industries Holdings Inc raised its offer to $US47.40 per share in cash and stock, sending Terra Industries’ Inc shares up 12 per cent to $US46.06. CF shares shed 3.3 per cent to $US104.01.

Dow Chemical Co said it would sell its Styron basic plastics unit to Bain Capital Partners for $US1.63 billion. Dow shares were up 1 per cent at $US29.93.

Wall Street ended higher for a second straight day on Monday, boosted by AIG’s record-setting deal to sell a major Asian unit for $US35.5 billion and other M&A news.

Tuesday’s advance pushed the Dow index into positive territory for 2010, a day after both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq moved above the break-even mark for the year.

In auto sales for February, Ford Motor Co posted a 43 per cent surge and set higher production targets for second the quarter in North America. But the stock fell nearly 1 per cent to $US12.30.

General Motors Co posted a nearly 12 per cent gain in US February sales, but that was weaker than some analysts had expected.

On the Nasdaq, technology bellwether Qualcomm Inc, rose more than 5 per cent to $US37.34 after the company announced a new $US3 billion share buyback plan and raised its quarterly dividend by 12 per cent.

Shares of Sequenom Inc jumped 20 per cent to $US8.34 after Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded the firm and raised its price target to $US16 from $US4.

UBS raised its 2010 estimate for global semiconductor company revenue growth, saying the first quarter appeared to be tracking ahead of seasonal trends with strong personal computer sales that should continue to support demand for DRAM microchips.

Global Market Indexes

Americas

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Toronto Composite

11832.94

+104.88 (0.89%)

+53.92%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Mexican Bolsa IPC Index

32021.48

+256.34 (0.81%)

+89.14%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Brazil Bovespa Index

67989.07

+761.14 (1.13%)

+87.63%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Argentina Merval Index

2287.03

+21.89 (0.97%)

+142.33%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Chile IPSA Index

3762.04

-20.00 (-0.53%)

+56.11%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Asian Pacific

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Nikkei 225 Index

10221.84

+49.78 (0.49%)

+40.41%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

ASX All Ordinaries

4709.90

+0.00 (0.00%)

+47.01%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Seoul Composite

1615.12

+20.54 (1.29%)

+58.53%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Hong Kong Hang Seng

20906.11

-150.82 (-0.72%)

+69.73%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Shanghai

3073.11

-14.73 (-0.48%)

+46.80%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Taiwan Weighted

7597.62

+19.87 (0.26%)

+71.67%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Singapore Straits Times

2772.20

-1.86 (-0.07%)

+80.79%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Bombay Sensex Index

16772.56

+343.01 (2.09%)

+94.87%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Jakarta Composite

2576.59

+0.00 (0.00%)

+105.12%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Kuala Lumpur Composite

1288.07

+4.67 (0.36%)

+46.95%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

PSE Composite

3061.89

-17.02 (-0.55%)

+64.93%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Sri Lanka All Share

3820.66

-4.64 (-0.12%)

+128.55%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Europe

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

FTSE 100 Index

5484.06

+78.12 (1.45%)

+51.25%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Paris CAC 40

4012.91

-1.06 (-0.03%)

+55.45%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Frankfurt Index

5776.56

+63.05 (1.10%)

+55.70%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Milan BCI General

15743.00

+0.00 (0.00%)

+33.23%

Mar 01, 5:30pm

Belgium 20 Index

2470.55

-38.93 (-1.55%)

+53.40%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Swiss Market Index

6820.04

+28.56 (0.42%)

+53.66%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

OSE Norway All Share

407.71

+1.20 (0.29%)

+63.61%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

ATX Vienna

2470.91

+17.30 (0.71%)

+74.32%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Amsterdam Total Return General

312.88

-2.55 (-0.81%)

+49.82%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Madrid General

1092.66

+8.30 (0.77%)

+42.57%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Stockholm General Index

307.42

+2.13 (0.70%)

+61.20%

Mar 02, 3:00pm

Africa/Middle East

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Israel TA 100 Index

1124.31

+8.21 (0.74%)

+94.14%

Mar 02, 10:45am

TEL-TECH INDEX

311.90

+5.11 (1.67%)

+95.25%

Mar 02, 10:45am

TEL-TECH-15 INDEX

265.59

+3.47 (1.32%)

+80.09%

Mar 02, 10:45am

Shayne Heffernan www.livetradingnews.com

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