Stocks rose with the Dow and S&P 500 finished at new 5-year highs, as investors grew hopeful about a potential merger between OfficeMax and Office Depot. Also, a gauge of builder sentiment unexpectedly fell in February from the more-than-six-year high hit in January. German investor confidence in February rising to a nearly three-year high, signaling Europe’s biggest economy seems to be recovering from its slide. Best Buy gained 2.7% after the co. announced plans to make its price-matching program permanent on March 3. Boeing lost 0.5% ahead of a vote by union engineers that ends Tuesday night on whether to approve a strike over retirement benefits. Meanwhile, Apple slipped by a faction after Reuters reported that the co.’s computers were hit by a hacking attempt, but that no personal data was stolen. Google gained 1.8% as company is facing heightened scrutiny from privacy regulators in Europe, according to a media report. Sony’s U.S.-listed shares rose 2.2% as the co.company is expected to unveil what is believed to be the PlayStation 4 console at an event in New York City on Wednesday evening. In the evening trade Dell and Herbalife edged higher after the firms posted quarterly results that were ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Gained on merger news
Stocks rose with the Dow and S&P 500 finished at new 5-year highs, as investors grew hopeful about a potential merger between OfficeMax and Office Depot. Also, a gauge of builder sentiment unexpectedly fell in February from the more-than-six-year high hit in January. German investor confidence in February rising to a nearly three-year high, signaling Europe’s biggest economy seems to be recovering from its slide. Best Buy gained 2.7% after the co. announced plans to make its price-matching program permanent on March 3. Boeing lost 0.5% ahead of a vote by union engineers that ends Tuesday night on whether to approve a strike over retirement benefits. Meanwhile, Apple slipped by a faction after Reuters reported that the co.’s computers were hit by a hacking attempt, but that no personal data was stolen. Google gained 1.8% as company is facing heightened scrutiny from privacy regulators in Europe, according to a media report. Sony’s U.S.-listed shares rose 2.2% as the co.company is expected to unveil what is believed to be the PlayStation 4 console at an event in New York City on Wednesday evening. In the evening trade Dell and Herbalife edged higher after the firms posted quarterly results that were ahead of analysts’ expectations.
