US stocks rose on Monday, extending Friday's gains, with tech shares lifted as wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc raised its profit outlook and network equipment builder Cisco Systems got a boost from favourable article. Acquisitions and mergers in banking and defence contracting and lower oil prices also contributed to gains, analysts said.
Cisco rose 2.2 percent to $18.43 after Barron's financial news weekly said the company remains a powerhouse in its core business.
But airplane maker Boeing Co, a Dow component, fell after its chief executive was fired. Shares of Boeing fell 0.6 percent to $58.02 after the company announced it had fired Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher for having an affair and violating the company's rules.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.38 points, or 0.26 percent, at 10,968.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.29 points, or 0.43 percent, at 1,227.41. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 26.21 points, or 1.27 percent, at 2,096.82.
The Dow average was near 11,000, its highest level in more than 3-1/2 years as stocks built on Friday's rally, which was fuelled by a better-than-expected jobs report for February and relief that the Federal Reserve was unlikely to step up the pace of interest-rate hikes.
Qualcomm rose 4.7 percent to $37.17 after the company said quarterly profit would be slightly better than expected on strong chip shipments.
Traders said Qualcomm and Cisco were boosting technology shares and that investors were also focused on business updates from top technology companies.
"We are seeing some follow-through from Friday. There is a lot of optimism in the market," said Mike O'Hare, head of listed trading at Lehman Brothers. "Crude is down and that is a positive for the market. Everyone is waiting for the technology sector to get some life and are looking out for business updates from Texas Instruments and Intel."
Shares of Texas Instruments Inc, the world's largest maker of chips for cell phones, were up 2.3 percent to $27.51. The company will give its midquarter business report on Monday after the bell.
Intel Corp rose nearly 2.8 percent to $25.36. The world's largest chip maker will update its first-quarter financial targets on Thursday. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange semiconductor index was up 2 percent.
Oil prices were down 68 cents to $53.10 barrel as warmer weather slowed US heating oil demand but were still near four-month highs. Higher oil prices are considered bad for stocks as they curb consumer spending and hurt corporate profits.
In M&A action, Capital One Financial Corp fell nearly 3 percent to $75.77 after the credit card issuer said it had agreed to buy Hibernia Corp, a Louisiana bank, in a cash and stock deal worth about $5.3 billion. Hibernia jumped 21 percent to $32.17.
Europe's biggest defence company, BAE Systems, agreed to buy United Defence Industries. Shares of United Defence soared 26 percent to $73.38.
McDonald's Corp rose nearly 1.6 percent to $34.50 after Prudential Equity Group raised its investment rating on McDonald's, citing strength in the fast food chain's US business.
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