A surge in Chinese exports allayed fears of a protracted global recession to lift the markets higher during the midday with the Dow surging 204 points to 10,104. Nasdaq climbed 31 points to 2190.
On the upside
Synopsys (Nasdaq: SNPS) offered aproximately $315 million in cash to acquire rival Virage Logic (Nasdaq: VIRL).
The Semiconductor Industry Association expects chip sales to soar 28.4% this year lifting shares of chipmakers Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) and Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA).
Old Republic International (NYSE: ORI) will acquire PMA Capital (Nasdaq: PMACA) in a stock swap deal valued at approximately $365 million.
On the downside
In response to Walgreen's (NYSE: WAG) announcement that it will no longer accept new prescriptions managed by CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), CVS said that it will terminate its relationship with Walgreen.
Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) reported sharply higher third quarter earnings but the stock price tumbled.
Trico Marine Services (Nasdaq: TRMA) may not be able to make interest payments on its debt.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 628.
