S&P Briefly Crosses 2,000, Sets Record Closing High

(RTTNews) - The S&P 500 rose above 2,000 for the first time on Monday as U.S. stocks rode a wave of merger news to yet another strong session on Wall Street.

The positive tone was set overnight in Europe where equities rallied on hopes for stimulus from the European Central Bank.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Friday evening that the ECB would carry out quantitative easing to fight deflation.

Inflation expectations in Europe have fallen sharply in recent months, suggesting that ECB may be prompted to act before summer's end.

The S&P 500 gained 9 points, or 0.5 percent, to post a record closing high of 1,998 after scoring an intraday record just below 2,002.

All 10 sectors were positive, led by financials.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75.65 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,076.87. The Nasdaq gained 18.80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,557.35.

Burger King Worldwide (BKW) shares jumped 19 percent following news that the company is in talks to buy Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc (THI). The merged companies would be headquartered in Canada for tax purposes.

Swiss drug maker Roche will buy California's InterMune (ITMN) for $8.3 billion. InterMune shares surged up 35.4 percent.

Aerospace and defense giant Boeing Co. (BA) announced Monday that it has received an order by Singapore-based BOC Aviation for 82 airplanes, valued at $8.8 billion at list prices. Boeing shares rose 0.7 percent.

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) shares rose 4.9 percent after a favorable note from JP Morgan.

Another U.S. mall fixture, Ann (ANN), operator of Ann Taylor stores, was up 6.4 percent amid pressure from an activist investor to sell itself.

In economic news, sales of new single-family homes fell 2.4 percent in July from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 412,000, the Commerce Department said Monday.

It was the slowest pace of new home sales in four months, as demand was relatively weaker in all regions except the South.

Economists expected a reading of 430,000. July sales were down 4.3 percent from a year earlier.