* Utilities up after China said to eye stake
* Concern about trade friction after tire duties
* Indexes: S&P up 0.6 pct, Nasdaq up 0.5 pct, Dow up 0.2
pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US
(Updates close with details of S&P gains)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as
reports of more merger activity added to a string of recent
deals, suggesting investors still see value in the market after
its runup of more than 50 percent since March.
Optimism about potential deals overshadowed concerns about
trade friction between the United States and China after
Washington imposed special duties on Chinese tire imports. For
details, see []
Shares of power company AES Corp <AES.N> rose 4.5 percent
after a Wall Street Journal report that China's sovereign
wealth fund was in talks to take a stake in AES. For details,
see []. Sprint Nextel Corp <S.N> jumped 10.1
percent after a British newspaper reported Germany's Deutsche
Telekom AG <DTEGn.DE> was considering a bid for its U.S.
rival.
"The M&A activity is definitely starting to heat up. (The
AES news) sparked interest across the whole utility sector,"
said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of U.S. Equity Group at Deutsche
Bank Private Wealth Management, in New York.
Analysts say M&A activity could help the market stay on its
recent uptrend. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index has
gained 55 percent since hitting 12-year lows in early March.
U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking in New York one year
after Lehman Brothers' collapse sent world markets into a
tailspin, called on financial firms not to fight regulatory
reform, but there was little market reaction.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> ended up 21.39
points, or 0.22 percent, at 9,626.80. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> was up 6.61 points, or 0.63 percent, at 1,049.34.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> finished 10.88 points
higher, or 0.52 percent, at 2,091.78.
Banks, which benefit from M&A activity, were among top
gainers as well, with shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> up
2.9 percent at $43.75 and leading gains on the Dow.
In other merger news, Cadbury Plc <CBRY.L> reiterated its
stance on a takeover bid from Kraft Foods Inc <KFT.N> over the
weekend as Cadbury's chairman, Roger Carr, said it was an
"unappealing prospect" being absorbed into Kraft's low-growth,
conglomerate business model. []
Kraft, which went public last week with a bid for the
British confectioner, rose 0.04 percent to $26.11.
Shares of U.S. tire makers also rose, including Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Co <GT.N> up 3 percent to $17.78 and Cooper Tire
& Rubber Co <CTB.N> up 7.1 percent to $15.60.
But analysts said the trade decision by Obama could open
the door to a host of trade complaints against Chinese
products, creating tensions as Western nations seek support
from the world's third-largest economy at G20 meetings later
this month.
China's commerce ministry said Sunday it launched an
anti-dumping investigation into imports of U.S. chicken
products and automotive exporters. [].
"Although on the surface it could lead to something
serious, I think both sides, and certainly China, realize that
it not in their best interest to really escalate this," said
Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Advisors
in Boston.
Shares of AES ended at $14.79 while shares of Sprint closed
at $4.15.
On the Nasdaq, shares of Dendreon Corp <DNDN.O> rose 15.1
percent to $27.43 after analysts said there was renewed
speculation the company, which is developing a vaccine for
prostate cancer, is a takeover target.
Other acquisitions or bids were announced last week in the
communications and biotech sectors.
Volume was below average on the New York Stock Exchange,
with 1.21 billion shares changing hands, below last year's
estimated daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq,
about 2.17 billion shares traded, down from last year's daily
average of 2.28 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 2 to 1, while advancers beat decliners on the Nasdaq
by about 8 to 5.
(Additional reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Kenneth
Barry)
