Financials, Deals Lift Dow 69.48 Points

By KRISTINA PETERSON

Financials led U.S. stocks higher as the market got a lift from a stream of deals, corporate earnings and some relief that a degree of economic activity resumed in Egypt.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 69.48 points, or 0.6%, to 12161.63. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 14.69 points, or 0.5% to 2783.99. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 8.18 points, or 0.6% to 1319.05, buoyed by its financial sector.

Stocks are rising sharply amid earnings reports and a lack of any bad Mideast news; the euro is falling, and bond yields are warning about inflation. Kristina Peterson, Michael Casey and Paul Vigna report.
.Boosting financials, Loews gained 4.5% after the conglomerate's fourth-quarter profit rose, as its CNA Financial insurance unit's earnings surged and it reinstated its quarterly dividend. Fellow insurer American International Group gained 5.4%.

Among Dow financial components, Bank of America gained 2.7%, while American Express climbed 2.3% and J.P. Morgan Chase rose 2%.

"To see CNA Financial doing much better and reinstating their dividend builds on this sense that the financials are making their way through a tumultuous period and, much like Egypt, making their way into a period of a little more normalcy," said Tom Villalta, lead portfolio manager at the Jones/Villalta Opportunity Fund.

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Reuters

A stream of earnings and deals news boosted stocks. Above, traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Feb. 7.
.Credit-card issuers also rose after a Monday afternoon reading of credit-card usage tracked by the Federal Reserve showed a surprise rise in December as Americans increased credit use for the first time since 2008. Visa rose 1.4%, while MasterCard added 1.1%.

Meanwhile, anxiety over the turmoil in Egypt eased slightly after opposition parties met with the government over the weekend and banks opened for the first time in more than a week.

A burst of deal activity also lifted the market.

"Deals are a really important underpinning to this market," said Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of Huntington Funds. In addition to acquisitions, companies flush with cash are instituting "a lot of stock buybacks and dividend statements," he said. "Those are strong things we really haven't seen in the past few years."

Biomedical-testing company Beckman Coulter jumped 10% after diversified manufacturing and technology company Danaher said it would pay $5.87 billion for Beckman, or $83.50 a share. Danaher rose 2.2%.

Pride International surged nearly 16% after U.K.-based Ensco said it would buy the company in a cash-and-stock deal that values Pride International at a premium of 21% over its closing price Friday. U.S.-listed shares of Ensco, which said the deal will make it the second-largest offshore driller in the world, fell 4.2%.

Chesapeake Energy rose 4% after the firm said it would sell its Fayetteville shale assets and equity stakes in Frac Tech Holdings and Chaparral Energy for about $5 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway said it plans to buy the rest of the remaining 19.9% of Wesco Financial shares it doesn't already own, sending Berkshire class B shares up 1.1%. Wesco Financial gained 1.8%.

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.AOL slid 3.4% after the Internet company disclosed plans to acquire privately held online news website Huffington Post for $315 million.

Among companies reporting earnings, managed-care company Humana dropped 3% after its fourth-quarter earnings fell amid increased expenses, including acquisition-related costs, and rising medical-claims costs. For the year, the company raised its per-share earnings and forecast revenue above analysts' estimates, but forecast earnings for the current quarter slightly below Street projections.

Sysco, a large food-service distributor in the U.S., tumbled 6.2% after its earnings fell short of analysts' forecasts, as the company continues to face higher food, fuel and overhead costs.

American Apparel rose 4.5% after appointing former Old Navy Chief Financial Officer John J. Luttrell to serve as the apparel maker and retailer's chief financial officer.

The U.S. dollar weakened slightly against the euro, but strengthened against the yen.

Demand for Treasurys declined, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 3.65%. Crude-oil prices fell 1.7% to settle below $88 a barrel, while gold futures also settled lower.

Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@dowjones.com

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