U.S. stocks soar, as Buffett's largest deal and Apple rally spur gains

The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all gained more than 1% on Monday

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks rose broadly on Monday as the completion of Warren Buffett's largest acquisition ever and a rally in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares bolstered all three major indices.

Speculation of an imminent deal in a third bailout for Greece by international creditors and disappointing economic data in China, which provided support for additional stimulus measures, also sent stocks skyrocketing. As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 241.79 or 1.39% to 17,615.17, halting a seven-day losing streak. Shares in Apple rose more than 3.5% on the session, amid increased iPhone sales estimates in China and overblown fears of broad order cancellations throughout Asia. The rebound from the world's largest company helped the Dow finish with its strongest one-day move in more than three months.

The NASDAQ Composite index and S&P 500 Composite index also soared by more than 1%, as crude prices rallied on Monday after touching down to six-year lows in overnight trading. Crude futures surged by more than 2.5% in Monday's session, also posting one of its highest one-day moves of the summer. The NASDAQ gained 58.26 or 1.16% to 5,181.80, while the S&P 500 added 26.61 or 1.28% to 2,104.18, erasing all of its losses from last week. On the S&P 500, nine of 10 sectors closed in the green, as stocks in the Energy, Basic Materials and Telecommunications industries led. Stocks in the Utilities sector, the lone industry to close in the red, lagged.

Buffett, one of the world's most wealthy investors, completed his biggest deal ever on Monday with the acquisition of aerospace and defense industrial good manufacturer Precision Castparts Corporation (NYSE:PCP) in a deal reportedly valued at above $37 billion. Shares in the Portland-based company surged more than 19% to an intraday high of $231.46, before closing at $231.00. Class-B shares in Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa), inched down 0.09% to 143.42.

Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) gained 2.98 or 3.86% to 80.27, to finish ahead of Apple as the top performer on the Dow. The worst performer was Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which fell 0.16 or 0.37% to 41.62. Coca-Cola finished as one of only two Dow components to close in the red.

Apple finished as the biggest gainer on the NASDAQ, after adding 4.25 points to 119.77. Apple shares are up approximately 7% since last Wednesday. The worst performer was Monster Beverage 1990 Corp (NASDAQ:MNST), which fell 4.74 or 3.18% to 144.43, after investors locked into profits reaped last week when the energy drink posted stronger than expected quarterly results. Last Thursday, Monster shares rose by more than 5% after the company saw its revenues for the second quarter by roughly 1% on a year-over-year basis.

Precision Castparts (NYSE:PCP) finished as the top performer on the S&P 500, just ahead of Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), which soared more than 13.3% to 5.47. Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) also finished as the worst performer on the S&P 500, just below Edison International (NYSE:EIX), which lost 4.18 or 2.80% to 144.99.

On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 2,373 to 770 margin.