* Beijing's move to cool inflation excludes rate rise
* Health care stocks jump briefly on Virginia judge ruling
* Several M&A deals announced; GE and Dell among buyers
* Dow up 0.3 pct, S&P up 0.4 pct, Nasdaq up 0.2 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see []
(Updates to afternoon trading, changes byline)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street's rise continued
on Monday, with the Nasdaq up for a ninth straight day as moves
by China to rein in inflation weren't as aggressive as had been
feared.
The move suggested optimism that stocks would continue
rallying through the rest of the year, even as some technical
indicators suggested a near-term correction could be in the
cards.
China's central bank extended an increase in reserve
requirements for top banks rather than raise benchmark interest
rates over the weekend, easing concerns of aggressive
tightening, which could slow expansion in one of the major
economic global growth engines. For details see
[]
"This is a less aggressive stance than had been feared,"
said Alec Young, equity strategist at S&P Equity Research in
New York. "The world has become accustomed to China being a
driver of global economic growth, and we're a long way from
having such strong growth here that we can afford to ignore
them."
Healthcare stocks jumped briefly on news that a Virginia
judge invalidated a key part of the March healthcare overhaul
championed by President Obama but quickly fell back. After
rising as much as 1.6 percent, the Morgan Stanley Healthcare
Payor Index <.HMO> slid 0.1 percent. Shares of health insurer
Aetna <AET.N> rose 0.9 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 37.43
points, or 0.33 percent, at 11,447.75. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> was up 4.84 points, or 0.39 percent, at
1,245.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 5.82
points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,643.36.
The Nasdaq is on tap for its ninth straight day of gains,
while the S&P reached another high for the year on Monday,
advancing to an intraday peak at 1,246.18.
The S&P 500's steady climb since breaching 1,228 -- a key
retracement of the 2007-2009 bear market losses -- has been
judged a sign of further gains, even as the relative strength
index suggests stocks are nearing an overbought condition.
In deal news, General Electric Co <GE.N> said it would buy
British oilfield services company Wellstream Holdings Plc
<WSML.L> while Dell Inc <DELL.O> agreed to buy data storage
company Compellent Technologies Inc <CML.N>.
GE's stock shed 0.3 percent to $17.69 after it reached a
deal to buy Wellstream by raising its bid for the British oil
drilling pipe maker by 6 percent to $1.3 billion.
[].
The PHLX oil service index <.OSX> jumped 1.9 percent.
Dell fell 2.9 percent to $13.48 after the personal computer
company sweetened its cash offer for Compellent to $27.75 a
share. Compellent fell 3 percent to $27.84 after having traded
above $34 last week.
Private equity firm Bain Capital agreed to buy IMCD,
valuing the Dutch chemicals firm at around $857.5 million,
while scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc
<TMO.N> is set to acquire Dionex Corp <DNEX.O> for $2.1
billion. [] and [].
Thermo Fisher shares rose 3.5 percent to $54.87 and Dionex
jumped 20 percent to $117.94.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> rose 1.1 percent to $324.11 after
Goldman Sachs resumed coverage on the stock with a "buy"
rating, saying that new product launches in the first half of
2011 would serve as catalyst for the tech giant's shares.
U.S. President Barack Obama's tax deal with Republicans
will likely win grudging passage in the U.S. Congress, backers
and critics agreed, after Obama clashed with liberals in his
own party who branded it a giveaway to the rich.
[]
(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)
