Roundup: U.S. stocks rebound strongly on Berkshire deal

U.S. stocks surged Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapping a seven-session losing streak, as a Berkshire deal cheered Wall Street sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average spiked 241.79 points, or 1.39 percent, to 17,615.17. The S&P 500 jumped 26.61 points, or 1.28 percent, to 2,104.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index went up 58.25 points, or 1.16 percent, to 5,101.80.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on Monday agreed to buy Precision Castparts for about 37.2 billion U.S. dollars, which would be the conglomerate's largest takeover ever.

Some analysts believed that such a deal showed the M&A boom was alive and well, which spurred market bulls.

Shares of Precision Castparts soared 19.10 percent to 230.92 U. S. dollars apiece on Monday.

The recovery in oil prices also provided some upward jolts to the stock market. Oil prices gained Monday as data showed China imported more crude in July, with Brent crude rising over 3 percent.

In response, the energy sector surged 3.11 percent on Monday, leading the advancers among the S&P 500's ten sectors.

Overseas, Chinese shares soared on Monday due to strong market expectations on the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surging 4.92 percent.

European equities also ended higher on Monday as investors were encouraged by the progress in Greece's third bailout deal, with French benchmark index CAC 40 up 0.79 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 8.66 percent to end at 12.23 on Monday.

In other markets, oil prices gained as data showed China imported more crude in July.

The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery moved up 1. 09 dollars to settle at 44.96 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for September delivery added 1.8 dollars to close at 50.41 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Future Exchange.

The U.S. dollar dropped against most major currencies after it soared to a four-month high in the previous session.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1019 dollars from 1.0972 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 124.61 Japanese yen, higher than 124.17 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rallied above 1,100 dollars amid a weaker U.S. dollar after falling for a seventh week in a row.

The most active gold contract for December delivery gained 10 dollars, or 0.91 percent, to settle at 1,104.10 dollars per ounce. Endite