(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished higher on Tuesday as news about corporate takeovers buoyed commodity shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.07 points or 0.59% to finish at 9,497.34. The S&P 500 climbed 8.99 points or 0.88% to end at 1,025.39. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 18.99 points or 0.94% to 2,037.77.
Shares of diversified US firm General Electric (NYSE:
GE) jumped 63 cents or 4.54% to close at $14.50. JP Morgan, on Tuesday, upgraded the GE stock to "overweight" from "neutral."
Alcoa (NYSE:
AA), the largest US aluminum maker, soared 42 cents or 3.45% to $12.60. Shares of eqipment maker Caterpillar (NYSE:
CAT) increased 86 cents or 1.87% to $46.97.
Shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:
FCX) jumped $2 or 3.03% to $68.
Energy stocks rallied. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) gained $1.47 or 2.12% to $70.65. Chevron Corp. (NYSE:
CVX) rose 63 cents advanced $1.52 or 2.20% to $70.48.
Consumer giant Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:
PG) climbed $1.34 or 2.53% to $54.20.
Shares of American Express Co. (NYSE:
AXP) rose 65 cents or 1.98% to $33.49.
Kraft Foods (NYSE:
KFT), the second-largest food company said it will pursue a takeover of Cadbury Plc after the British maker of Trident gum and Dairy Milk chocolate rejected a 10.2 billion-pound ($16.7 billion) bid saying that the offer "fundamentally undervalues" the Group and its prospects. Shares of Kraft Foods plunged $1.65 or 5.87% to close at $26.45.
Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 called for tougher capital adequacy standards for banks and pledged to continue fiscal and monetary stimulus while rejecting a Franco-German proposal to cap banker pay.
Early on Tuesday, Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE:
SFD) said that its fiscal first quarter loss widened to $108 million, or 75 cents a share, from 10 cents a share. Revenue dropped to $2.7 billion from $3.1 billion. Shares fell 29 cents or 2.22% to $12.75.
Contract oil driller Ensco International Inc. (NYSE:
ESV) announced Friday that due to unexpected downtime and repairs on two drilling rigs its third-quarter earnings will be reduced by about 14 cents to 18 cents per share. Ensco rose 79 cents or 2.125 to $38.08.
On the economic front, a report by Federal Reserve showed that total U.S. consumer credit fell by a record $21.6 billion in July.
European stocks settled up. The UK FTSE climbed 14.16 points or 0.29% to 4,947.34.The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.33% and 0.22% respectively.
Asian stocks finished higher. The Nikkei 225 rose 72.29 points or 0.70% to 10,393.23. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong jumped 440.50 points or 2.14% to 21,069.81.
NYMEX crude oil for October delivery climbed $3.08 or 4.5% to settle at $71.10 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
