US STOCKS-Wall St rises on commods, M&A; data supports recovery

                                
   * CPI, industrial output above estimates
                                
 * Adobe to buy Omniture
                                
 * Indexes up: Dow by 0.2 pct, S&P 0.2 pct, Nasdaq 0.3 pct
                                
 (Updates to open)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose slightly on
Wednesday on gains in commodity prices and renewed merger and
acquisition activity.
                                
 U.S. industrial production rose for the second straight
month in August, while higher gasoline costs pushed up consumer
prices, reinforcing hopes a recovery was underway. For details,
see [ID:nN16118540]
                                
 "It's particularly encouraging to see the manufacturing
sector of the economy recover," said Hugh Johnson, chief
investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany,
NY.
                                
 "It's like all the other numbers we've seen in that they've
been better than expected, and that's what bull markets are all
about."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 18.21
points, or 0.19 percent, to 9,701.62. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> rose 2.49 points, or 0.24 percent, to 1,055.12.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 5.95 points, or 0.28
percent, to 2,108.59.
                                
 The S&P hit a new high for the year shortly after the open,
and is now up 56 percent from the March 9 low.
                                
 Adobe Systems Inc <ADBE.O> said it plans to pay $1.8
billion for fast-growing business software maker Omniture Inc
<OMTR.O> as Adobe, the maker of Photoshop and Acrobat looks to
turn around declining sales. [ID:nN15465772]
                                
 Adobe shares fell 6.6 percent to $33.26, while Omniture
shares surged 26 percent to $21.82.
                                
 M&A activity is considered a positive sign for the economy
as businesses display confidence in their capital positions and
begin to spend.
                                
 Gold <XAU=> hit an 18-month high of $1,020.50 an ounce and
helped lift silver and platinum to multi-month peaks. Freeport
McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc <FCX.N> shares rose 1.5 percent to
$72.37.
                                
 Genworth Financial Inc <GNW.N> climbed 6 percent to $12.76
a day after it priced a common share offering. [ID:nWEN3569]
                                
 Rogers Corp <ROG.N> rose 7.7 percent to $29.09 after the
maker of specialty materials for electronics and consumer
markets raised its outlook, citing strong performance in its
printed circuit materials and high performance foams segments.
[ID:nBNG525615]
                                
 Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> capped gains on the Dow,
down 2.6 percent to $30.20. UBS downgraded the stock to
"neutral" from "buy," saying the telecommunications company is
likely to miss its outlook for 2009 earnings growth.
                                
 Corning Inc <GLW.N> dropped 2.2 percent to $15.45 after it
said it acquired all of the outstanding shares of Axygen
Bioscience and its subsidiaries from American Capital Ltd
<ACAS.O> for $400 million. American Capital jumped 30 percent
to $3.35.
                                
  (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe)