Investing.com – Wall Street gained steam on Monday, as inflation data and news that IBM is acquiring Red Hat in one of the biggest deals in the tech sector helped boost sentiment.
The S&P 500 rose 34 points or 1.32% to 2,693.68 as of 9:41 AM ET (13:41 GMT), while the Dow increased 205 points, or 0.83%, to 24,893.86 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 94 points, or 1.31% to 7,261.46.
Investor sentiment was bolstered after news that International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) is acquiring Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT), a software and technology distributor, in a deal valued around $34 billion.
According to a joint statement released Sunday, IBM, which has a market capitalization of $114 billion, will pay $190 per share in cash for Red Hat, a 63% premium to Friday's closing share price of $116.68.
IBM fell 4.00% while Red Hat surged 48.43%.
Meanwhile consumer spending slowed in September, rising 0.4%, less than its 0.5% gain in August. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, rose 0.2% in September.
Technology and financial stocks were among the top gainers after the morning bell, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 1.29% and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) gaining 3.90%. Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) jumped 1.75% and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 1.31%. Visa (NYSE:V) increased 2.57% while Ford Motor (NYSE:F) was up 5.86%.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 0.59% while Boeing (NYSE:BA) declined 0.93% and Canopy Growth Corp (TO:WEED) dipped 0.75%.
In commodities, gold futures decreased 0.07% to $1,231.60 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.64% to $67.16 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.26% to 96.61.