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M&A fiesta on Wall St.
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November 23, 1998: 1:45 p.m. ET
Dow nears record as investors cheer parade of mergers, negotiations
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A sudden spate of merger activity, heralding corporate America's confidence in the future, propelled U.S. stocks into a powerful rally Monday, driving the Dow industrials within a few points from their all-time high.
Shortly before 1:30 p.m. ET the Dow Jones industrial average was up 154.73 points, or 1.7 percent, at 9,314.28, only a few points below its record high of 9,337.97 reached on July 17. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances outnumbered declines 1,865 to 1,084 as 469 million shares changed hands.
The Nasdaq Composite jumped 40.38, or 2.1 percent, to 1,968.59, and the S&P 500 index gained 19.12, or 1.6 percent, to 1,182.67. (Click here for a look at today's CNNfn market movers)
The bond market turned lower, with stocks attracting most of the attention. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond was down 11/32 of a point in price for a yield of 5.24 percent.
The dollar eased from its morning highs after soaring to its highest level against the German mark in 10 weeks. The gain came as tensions in the Persian Gulf mounted again, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Monday merger craze
Back in the stock market, news of mergers, completed or in the works, kept investors busy as the shares of companies taking part in the marriage action fired up.
"When you get these top-line blockbuster deals, they will guarantee that we will have future deals coming as a result of this, and so I'm telling you the landscape will change as a result of this," said Robert Froehlich, market analyst at Scudder Kemper Investments.
At the top of the deal talk, shares of two premier Internet companies surged on news they were close to joining forces. America Online (AOL), the world's largest online service provider, soared 3-13/16 to 88-11/16, and Netscape (NSCP), the browser maker-cum-Web portal, rallied 2-5/16 to 41-1/2 on news the two are negotiating Netscape's acquisition by AOL in a stock swap worth about $4 billion. Shares of Sun Microsystems (SUNW), also said to be involved in the deal, rose 4-1/16 to 71-9/16.
Meanwhile, shares of Bankers Trust (BT) soared 7-9/16 to 84-13/16, following news German giant Deutsche Bank (FDBK) is about to buy the U.S. financial powerhouse in a $9.7 billion deal that could be announced by the end of the day.
The news spurred shares of other financial companies that had been the target of takeover speculation at one time or another. Dow component J.P. Morgan (JPM) rallied 5-5/8 to 115-1/4 and Lehman Brothers (LEH) climbed 5-3/16, or more than 11 percent, to 50-7/8.
Shares of Amerin (AMRN) surged 2-3/4, or more than 13 percent, to 23-5/8 on news the company is joining forces with CMAC Investment (CMT) in a deal that will create the nation's second-largest mortgage insurer. CMAT's stock gained 2-5/16 to 46-1/4.
Elsewhere, AMP (AMP) climbed 2-5/16 to 47-7/16 after Tyco International (TYC) agreed to buy the company for $11.3 billion in stock. Tyco's shares tumbled 2-1/8 to 62-15/16.
Finally, shares of Provident Cos. (PVT) gained 3-11/16 to 37-1/16 and Unum (UNM) rallied 4-1/2 to 52-5/8 on news the two disability insurers have agreed to unite in a stock-swap transaction. 
-- by staff writer Malina Poshtova Zang
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