The Dow Jones Industrials posted a 127 point gain closing at 13,535; the S&P500 added 16 points ending at 1,519, and the Nasdaq was up 29 points finishing at 2,632.
In company news, Mancor Care is the latest health-care provider to be taken off the public market by a private equity buyer. Shares in the largest US operator of homes for the elderly fell 1.82% to $64.10 after the company agreed to be acquired by Carlyle Group for $4.9 billion. Shareholders will receive $67 per share, a 20 per cent premium to the stock's closing stock price on April 10, the day before the company announced it was putting itself up for sale.
Meanwhile, Dow Chemical announced it has paid $726 million for Bayer AG's Wolff Walsrode cellulosics business. Shares in Dow Chemical were up 1.94% to $45.08 on the New York Stock Exchange. The German business makes products derived from plant cellulose that are used in the construction, food and pharmaceutical industries. The largest US chemical firm also announced the launch of a new specialty business unit with over $1 billion in annual sales. The new unit is a combination of Wolff Walsrode and Dow's water-soluble polymers business.
Shares in the Bank of New York Mellon jumped 6.78% to $44.25 after the completion of its merger with the Bank of New York. It was the first day of trading after the creation of the world's largest custody bank. The combined company oversees more than $18 trillion of assets for institutional investors, and has more than $1 trillion of assets under management.
And shares in Virgin Media surged 17.64% to $28.67 on the Nasdaq. The British cable operator, whose shares are traded in New York, has received an approach from an unnamed group but is reportedly not yet in negotiations. Sources familiar with the situation told Reuters the bid came from US private equity firm Carlyle Group. Virgin Media said in a statement it had already started a review of its strategic options, including a sale of the group, and the proposal would be considered as part of that process.
Turning now to the best and worst performers on the Nasdaq Top 100. The best performing stock was Virgin Media for the aforementioned reason, followed by Research in Motion and Millicom International.
The worst performing stock was Intuit which was down 1.56% to $29.61. SunMicrosystems and Symantec round out the list.
