M&amp;A NEWS BOOSTS MARTS, &#39;05 HOPES
279836
Wall Street is taking a big bite of its Christmas-rally pie - sweetened by hopes of a new year flush with merger and acquisition activity.
560144
U.S. stocks traded higher on  Wednesday, with shares of drugmaker Merck & Co. MRK.N helping  to boost the Dow after its 2005 forecast offered relief to some  investors on Wall Street.
770215
US stocks rose yesterday after a measure of consumer confidence climbed to the highest since July, boosting retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores and reviving a rally that has lifted benchmark indexes to three-year highs.
251505
While consolidation can be a sign of a mature, slowing market, the M&A activity happening now, especially seen in context of this week's six-year Nasdaq Composite Index high, signals confidence in IT and prospects for growth.
516106
U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, pushing  the Dow and S&P 500 to fresh 2005 highs, as retail shares got a  boost from better-than-expected January retail sales, while an  unsolicited bid for Circuit City Stores Inc.CC.N raised hopes  for more deals to come.
413664
Stocks rose on Monday, boosted by takeover news and data that showed manufacturing growth quickened in June even as price pressures eased.
716602
Stocks were expected to open higher on Tuesday as news of proposed mergers and acquisitions underpinned optimism about the equities outlook after the holiday weekend.
100232
Business & money: Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser to emerge as  winners from brutal Christmas trading period
345894
In the best combination of tobacco &#39;n&#39; food news since Homer Simpson&#39;s tomacco, today Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and its cheesy stepchild Kraft (NYSE: KFT) both upped their dividends.
285828
Stocks rose at the open on Thursday after a flurry of retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  Target Corp  and J.C. Penney Co. Inc.  released reassuring monthly sales figures and outlooks.
691098
Stocks edged higher on Tuesday as news of planned mergers and acquisitions underpinned optimism about the equities outlook after the long weekend.
494465
London equities made progress in opening trade on Wednesday, helped by strength in financial stocks. Retailers stayed in the limelight with closely watched corporate news from J Sainsbury and DSG International.
597167
Shares of WMC Resources Ltd., the world&#39;s fifth-largest nickel metal producer, rose on optimism Xstrata Plc. will need to raise its A$7.4 billion ($5.8 billion) hostile bid and that other companies may submit higher offers.
364043
Investors welcomed an upbeat profit report from Wal-Mart as a sign that consumers might not be as afraid of spending as the market has feared.
756894
Stocks rose on Wednesday after data pointing to strength in consumer spending boosted optimism about profit growth and as bond yields retreated from five-year highs.
367241
Stock index futures rose on Monday, boosted by takeover news in the telecommunications sector and before a report on manufacturing activity that could give clues on the outlook for profits.
399082
U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday lifted  by a merger between retailers Kmart and Sears,  better-than-expected earnings from Hewlett-Packard and data  showing a slight rise in core inflation.