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U.S. stocks open higher on Berkshire deal

Xinhua, August 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, recovering from sharp declines last week, as Berkshire deal cheered investors' sentiment.

In corporate news, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on Monday agreed to buy Precision Castparts for about 32.7 billion U.S. dollars, which would be the conglomerate's largest takeover ever.

Shares of Precision Castparts added more than 19 percent to 230.92 dollars apiece in the early trading. Such a deal showed that the M&A boom was alive and well, according to Reuters.

Investors will also focus on Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart's comments later Monday. Lockhart said last week that he would support an increase in the U.S. central bank's interest rate in September unless there was "significant deterioration" in the U.S. economy.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 165.09 points, or 0.95 percent, to 17,538.47. The S&P 500 gained 18.22 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,095.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 45.65 points, or 0.91 percent, to 5,089.19.

U.S. stocks ended mildly lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging a seven-session losing streak, as Wall Street tried to digest the closely-watched nonfarm payrolls report.

U.S. jobs report came out mostly in line with market expectations. U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 215,000 in July, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3 percent. Endi