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Multi-billion corporate mergers, including a potential deal between Office Depot and OfficeMax, pushed Wall Street to a banner day on Tuesday.
The potential retail merger comes on the heels of corporate deals involving Heinz, Dell and the airlines American Airways and US Airways. The S&P hit 1530.94, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell short of a five-year high but rose 53 points to close at 14,036. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed at 3,213.59, a new 12-year high. Ref. USAToday
Stocks closed lower Monday following signs that Italy could be headed for political gridlock, potentially undermining the country's efforts to reform its economy and rekindling the region's debt crisis.
In preliminary prime minister election results, it appears that former Premier Silvio Berlusconi did far better than expected, potentially putting some much-needed fiscal reforms in the eurozone's third-largest economy on hold. Ref. USAToday
Dow Suffers Worst Session of 2013:
Blue-chip stocks headed toward their third decline in four sessions as Italian election exit polls raised fears the country might abandon austerity measures. Paul Vigna has details on The News Hub. Ref. Source 3
Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke's defense of the Fed's stimulus policy coupled with the strongest pending home sales since April 2010 boosted the Dow Jones industrial average to close up 175 points following two days of steep losses. The Dow is within 100 points of its all-time closing high of 14,164.53, set on Oct. 9, 2007. Ref. USAToday
For the first time in more than five years, the blue-chip Dow has surpassed its Oct. 9, 2007, closing high of 14,164.53. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 stock index isn't far behind. Ref. USAToday
The Dow Jones industrial average, after setting an all-time high Tuesday, did it again Wednesday, after climbing another 0.3% from that previous close. Preliminary figures had the benchmark index closing at 14,296. Ref. USAToday
The Dow Jones industrial average has set a closing record for the third straight day, finishing at 14,329.49.
Earlier in the day, the Dow also climbed to an intraday all-time high of 14,354.69.
The recent rally has been driven by a series of strong economic reports, particularly related to the job market and manufacturing, said Marc Chandler, strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman. Ref. CNN
The Dow set a record closing high for the 4th straight day, ending the day at 14,393. The S&P is only about 1% below its all-time high. All three major indexes add more than 2% for the week and are already up between 7% and 9% so far this year. Ref. CNN