US Close 25 Oct 16: Merger and takeover activity driving volumes higher

US sharemarkets rose on Monday with investor confidence boosted by news that AT&T had agreed to buy Time Warner for US$85.4 billion. Shares in AT&T fell by 1.7% with Time Warner down by 3.1%. And China Oceanwide Holdings has pledged $3.8 billion in a deal to take control of insurer Genworth Financial. There was some caution ahead of a big week of earnings results. The Dow Jones index rose by 77 points or 0.4% after being up by 130 points in early trade. The S&P 500 index rose by 0.5% while the Nasdaq lifted by over 52 points or 1.0%.

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