NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks jumped at the open Monday, with a pair of big mergers and a pullback in oil prices inspiring investors to scoop up beaten-down shares after last week's pummeling.

The Nasdaq composite (up 16.18 to 2,036.57, Charts) jumped nearly 1 percent in the early going, after closing at a 14-month low Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial average (up 70.12 to 10,938.50, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 added nearly 0.8 percent each.

Stocks slipped Friday on Dell's profit warning, at the end of a tough week for the overall market. After such a selloff, stocks managed to bounce Monday morning, thanks to some upbeat corporate news.

HCA (up $2.03 to $49.90, Charts) agreed to a $21 billion buyout by a private equity group and members of the company's founding family and current management. That sent shares of the hospital owner up 4 percent.

Advanced Micro Devices said it would buy graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies for $5.4 billion. Shares of AMD (down $0.81 to $17.45, Charts) lost about 3.5 percent at the open, while shares of ATI (up $2.76 to $19.32, Charts) rose nearly 18 percent.

Investors also eyed a number of upbeat quarterly profit reports, including Dow component Merck (up $0.83 to $38.19, Charts). The drugmaker reported higher quarterly earning that beat estimates and also boosted its outlook for the full year.

Fellow drugmaker Schering-Plough (up $1.13 to $20.58, Charts) also reported higher quarterly earnings that topped forecasts.

U.S. light crude oil for September delivery fell 55 cents to $73.88 in electronic trading.

Treasury prices inched higher, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 5.03 percent, down slightly from around 5.04 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $6.40 to $617.00 an ounce.

In global trade, Asian markets ended mixed, with the Japanese Nikkei lower. European markets mostly rallied at midday.