US Stock Market Daily Report (February 17, 2011, Thursday)

Stocks were rallying today after news broke of new pharmaceutical mergers and better than expected earnings. Investors were happy to hear before the opening bell that Sanofi-Aventis SNY agreed to purchase biotech company Genzyme GENZ in a cash deal worth $20.1 billion. Any time investors get wind of a new merger or acquisitions, stocks tend to rise; it is a good indication that business are willing and able to make these types of business deals. Analysts expect to see more of these mergers take place throughout the year as business conditions are improving and companies are feeling more confident about the economy. Today's news comes just a day after NYSE Euronext NYX announced it was teaming up with Deutsche Boerse to make the world's largest exchange. Stocks also got a boost off of earnings. This morning, Dell reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.53 per share, well above the $0.37 per share analysts were expecting. Shares of Dell were rising 10% in the session. Other companies to report better than expected results were Comcast and John Deer. Commodity prices were mixed; gold was up by just $1.00 an ounce. The dollar was falling versus the euro and the yen, but managed to make gains against the pound. As the session moved forward gains narrowed but major indexes managed to stay in the positive. With just under an hour left in the session, the Dow was still at a gain of over 60 points after falling to around a 40 point gain in the early afternoon. All three major indexes ended the day with gains. Continue reading the article.