Merger and acquisition news lifted the markets to a higher close with the Dow rising 34 points to 17,712. Nasdaq climbed 27 points to 4,891.
On the upside
The Wall Street Journal reported that Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) engaged in discussions to acquire Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR).
ChinaCache International (Nasdaq: CCIH) swung to a profit for the fourth quarter.
Bargain hunters continued to snap up shares of Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD).
On the downside
Falling crude oil prices weighed down shares of Energy XXI (Nasdaq: EXXI) and Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR).
OvaScience (Nasdaq: OVAS) discussed pregnancy rates of women who received its AUGMENT treatment in a conference call with analysts.
MOL Global (Nasdaq: MOLG) fell to a loss for the fourth quarter.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 4 points to 2061. Bitcoin added $1 to $247.
Higher close on M&A news
March 27, 2015 at 17:55 PM EDT