* Merger activity, earnings, offset Egypt worry
* Exxon Mobil rises after profit top forecasts
* Intel revises outlook after design error
* Dow up 0.4 pct, S&P up 0.7 pct, Nasdaq up 0.5 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to early afternoon trade)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as
investors shrugged off the turmoil in Egypt, even as protesters
continued to call for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step
down, and focused on signs of improvement in the corporate
sector and the economy.
Reflecting the changed sentiment, the most actively traded
stocks were emerging market-related exchange traded funds. The
Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF <EGPT.P>, which consists of
shares of companies in Egypt, traded up 7 percent.
The CBOE Volatility index VIX <.VIX>, Wall Street's
so-called fear gauge, dipped 3.6 percent to 19.32, after having
surged by 24 percent on Friday in the largest percentage gain
since May.
Mubarak overhauled his government on Monday to try to
defuse a popular uprising against his 30-year rule but angry
protesters rejected the changes and said he must surrender
power. For details, see []
"For now, it's more of a wait-and-see situation (for
investors). The market is actually now more focused on being
supported on the pullback we had last week," said Steve
Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co in Greenwich,
Connecticut.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 50.86
points, or 0.43 percent, at 11,874.56. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 9.04 points, or 0.71 percent, at
1,285.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 13.56
points, or 0.50 percent, at 2,700.45.
Wall Street posted its biggest one-day loss in nearly six
months on Friday as the anti-government rioting in Egypt
sparked a flight to less risky assets.
Stocks held gains on Monday even after technology
bellwether Intel Corp <INTC.O> fell 0.9 percent to $21.27 after
cutting its first-quarter revenue forecast by $300 million due
to costs for correcting a design flaw in one of its chips. For
details, see []
"It doesn't have any impact for the balance of the sector.
This is a very Intel specific thing," said Nicholas Aberle,
semi-conductor analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott in San
Francisco. "It's a negative for Intel because it has to clean
up the mess, but there is no competition for Intel for this
type of chip."
The M&A activity, typically a sign of confidence in the
market, included Alpha Natural Resources <ANR.N>, which fell
7.5 percent to $53.51 after it agreed to a $7.1 billion deal to
buy Massey Energy Co <MEE.N>, which would create the second
largest U.S. coal miner by market value. []
Massey shares jumped 9.8 percent to $62.85.
The merger and earnings action offset the fears of
political unrest spreading to oil-producing Middle Eastern
countries. []
In other M&A action, CNOOC Ltd <0883.HK> <CEO.N> will pay
$1.3 billion in its second shale deal with America's Chesapeake
Energy Corp <CHK.N>, the latest move by China's top offshore
oil producer in its aggressive drive for overseas acquisitions.
[]
Chesapeake advanced 5.9 percent to $28.93.
Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> gained 1.9 percent to $80.46 after
the world's largest publicly traded oil company reported a
higher-than-expected 53 percent increase in quarterly profit.
[]
The Commerce Department said U.S. consumer spending rose in
December for a sixth straight month, while a separate report
showed business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew more than
expected in January. [] []
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Leslie Adler)
