* Caterpillar, EMC both in multibillion dollar deals
* Retail sales top forecast, NY manufacturing weakens
* Internet stocks fall, pressuring Nasdaq
* Indexes up; Dow 0.5 pct, S&P 0.4 pct, Nasdaq 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to midmorning)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as
a pair of large acquisition proposals suggested investors see
value in certain stocks at current elevated levels in a trend
that could carry the market through year end.
Strong October retail sales also helped offset persistent
weakness in Internet shares.
Coming off a steep selloff Friday that ended a five-week
winning streak, investors also fretted over weakened New York
manufacturing data and lingering European sovereign debt woes.
Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> agreed to buy mining equipment
maker Bucyrus International Inc <BUCY.O> for $7.6 billion,
sending Bucyrus' shares up 28.7 percent to $89.58. Caterpillar,
a Dow component, rose 1.4 percent to $82.18. For details, see
[]
Other mining equipment shares gained. Terex Corp <TEX.N>
climbed 5.1 percent to $25.67, while Joy Global Inc <JOYG.O>
advanced 7 percent to $77.41. Manitowoc Co Inc <MTW.N>, which
filed a shelf offering Friday, added 1.9 percent to $11.39.
In other M&A action, data storage equipment maker EMC Corp
<EMC.N> agreed to buy smaller peer Isilon Systems Inc <ISLN.O>
for $2.25 billion. Isilon shot up 28.5 percent to $33.79 and
was the second most active stock on Nasdaq. EMC slid 1 percent
to $21.50. []
"Continued M&A is the best thing going on in the market
right now, and I'm expecting this activity to fuel a 100-point
rally in the S&P by the end of the year," said Uri Landesman,
president of the New York-based hedge fund manager Platinum
Partners.
Retail sales posted their largest gain in seven months,
boosted by purchases of motor vehicles and building materials.
Separately, a gauge of manufacturing in New York state fell in
November to its lowest level since April 2009. []
"The consumer is one of the stronger areas of the economy
right now, so while what we're seeing isn't thrilling, it is a
positive datapoint," Landesman said.
A slump in Internet shares limited gains, with Amazon.com
Inc <AMZN.O> falling about 3 percent to $160.69 and
Priceline.com Inc <PCLN.O> off 1.2 percent at $410.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 54.00
points, or 0.48 percent, at 11,246.58. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> rose 5.13 points, or 0.43 percent, at
1,204.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 6.51
points, or 0.25 percent, at 2,524.56.
The S&P 500 dipped below its 20-day moving average on
Friday for the first time since Sept. 1, but managed to close
above it in a sign the level, measured just above 1,194, could
provide strong technical support.
Ireland didn't rule out the need to turn to Europe for help
in dealing with its debt crisis, but said no application had
been made for assistance yet. []
Concerns over euro zone sovereign debt have pressured
equities in recent weeks along with persistent worries that
China may raise interest rates. An offsetting factor was upbeat
growth data from Japan. []
Lowe's Cos Inc <LOW.N> reported a quarterly profit that
just beat expectations, but sales missed estimates. Shares of
the home improvement retailer rose 2.2 percent to $22.16.
[]
Business inventories rose 0.9 percent in September,
compared with the 0.8 percent expectation. []
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
