US stocks maintained their uptrend today on the back of increasing corporate activity and receding fears over the Greek debt crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.48 points (0.36 per cent) to 10,441.27, a day after stocks surged amid a flurry of company mergers and acquisitions.
The Nasdaq composite gained 10.62 points (0.47 per cent) to 2284.19 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 5.91 points (0.53 per cent) to 1121.62.
Analysts said the market maintained its bullish stance after receiving a shot in the arm from a clutch of mergers and acquisitions this week.
In another move overnight, fertiliser producer CF Industries made a new offer for rival Terra Industries in a deal worth nearly $US5 billion ($5.55 billion).
It was an apparent attempt to thwart Norwegian firm Yara International's agreement to merge with Terra Industries.
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"While the overall size of the CF-Terra deal isn't significant at $US4.73 billion, the semblance of a bidding war is an encouraging recovery marker for stock market participants," said Briefing.com's Patrick O'Hare.
He said that a Wall Street Journal report overnight that Greece would introduce a new $US5.4 billion ($6.0 billion) austerity measure tomorrow, in addition to its plan to issue 10-year bonds this week in a bid to raise up to five billion euros ($US6.74 billion), offered "support" for the market.
"Near-term, the stock market appears to be in 'rally' mode," said Frederic Dickson, chief market strategist for DA Davidson & Co.
The market trend had flattened out over the last three months, showing little response to a solid fourth-quarter earnings season as investors fretted over the implications of the recent meltdown of the euro as debt refinancing problems in Greece mounted, he said.
Among the high-profile stocks were CF Industries, which dipped 3.62 per cent to $US103.65, and Terra Industries, rising 11.99 per cent to $US46.14, as the market reacted to the proposed merger.
Top office products retailer Staples fell 6.92 per cent to $US24.06 after reporting an 18 per cent drop in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.
Leading personal computer seller Dell rose 2.43 per cent to $US13.90 after UBS analysts upgraded its stock to "buy" from "neutral".
The bond market fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.640 per cent from 3.606 per cent yesterday while that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.599 per cent from 4.557 per cent.
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