A couple of key mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors as well as favorable economic news out of Asia sparked a flurry of upside trading that spread across to other market segments — and sent stocks soaring.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.5 percent to 17,976.31 — it’s best advance in eight weeks — while the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent to 2,086.24 and the Nasdaq closed the day up 1.15 percent to 4,947.44. The WWD Global Stock Track gained 0.9 percent to 116.13.
The biggest advancer of the tracker was Yoox.com, which rose 10.4 percent to 23.23 euros, or $25.14, on news of its talks to acquire Net-a-Porter.
The WWD tracker had 75 issues that advanced while 22 declined, and 3 remained unchanged. The gains were made despite news that consumer spending remains weak.