Yahoo Finance US stocks up as DuPont surges
An unexpected chief executive resignation at DuPont lifted the Dow in early trade Tuesday as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 16,860.31, up 83.88 points (0.50 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 added 4.17 (0.21 percent) at 1,991.22, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.60 (0.03 percent) to 4,782.86.
DuPont surged 11.0 percent higher after the chemical company announced late Monday that chief executive Ellen Kuhlman would retire this month following a turbulent battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz.
US stocks have risen two straight sessions since a weak US jobs report Friday dimmed expectations for an imminent interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve.
PepsiCo rose 1.8 percent after reporting third-quarter net income that translated into $1.35 per share, 10 cents above expectations.
Illumina, which develops technology for genetic testing, sank 14.4 percent as it announced estimated third-quarter revenues of $550 million, below the $567.4 million projected by analysts.
Semiconductor company PMC-Sierra bolted up 33.2 percent on news it would be acquired by Skyworks Solutions for $2 billion in cash. Skyworks lost 2.9 percent.
Mining and oil company Freeport-McMoRan jumped 6.1 percent on news it was considering spinning off its oil and gas business or implementing other strategic changes to "achieve self-funding" for the enterprise. Freeport is also slashing its board from 16 to nine members.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.07 percent from 2.06 percent Monday, while the 30-year advanced to 2.92 percent from 2.90 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
