Optimism that European leaders will finalize an agreement to solve the credit crisis lifted the markets to a sharply higher open with the Dow surging 154 points to 12,173. Nasdaq soared 43 points to 2670.
On the upside
SAP (NYSE: SAP) will pay a premium of approximately $3.4 billion to acquire SuccessFactors (NYSE: SFSF).
The Food and Drug Administration said that Affymax's (Nasdaq: AFFY) anemia medication peginesatide was just as effective as Amgen's (Nasdaq: AMGN) Epogen for treating patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis.
BMO Capital Markets said that Taleo (Nasdaq: TLEO) may be targeted for acquisition by Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL).
On the downside
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' (Nasdaq: REGN) age-related macular degeneration treatment Eylea provided no advantage to patients over Roche Holding's Lucentis after two years.
Fushi Copperweld (Nasdaq: FSIN) rejected an offer by chief executive Li Fu to be taken private.
A Seeking Alpha article said that Cedar Fair's (NYSE: FUN) dividend yield will not be as high as expected.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 14 points to 749.
