Yahoo Finance US stocks jump on UnitedHealth deal
US stocks jumped Monday in opening trade on news Dow member UnitedHealth bought rival pharmacy-benefit manager Catamaran in a $12.8 billion deal.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,911.95, up 199.29 points (1.13 percent).
The broad-based S&P 500 surged 15.93 (0.77 percent) to 2,076.95, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 38.69 (0.79 percent) to 4,929.91.
Catamaran jumped 24.6 percent to $61.20 after UnitedHealth announced it would buy the company for $61.50 a share in cash.
The deal will create the third-ranked pharmacy benefit manger -- the firms that manage prescription drug services between health insurers and insured patients. United Health surged 4.6 percent
Meanwhile drug developer Horizon Pharma announced it would acquire Hyperion Therapeutics for $1.1 billion. Horizon rose 13.5 percent, while Hyperion gained 7.4 percent.
US personal incomes rose 0.4 percent in February, while consumer spending edged up by 0.1 percent, the Commerce Department reported.
A heavy week of data on the US economy culminates with Friday's jobs report for March.
