Stocks opened in positive territory and the move was solidified by a better than expected consumer confidence reading. The averages dipped in early afternoon amid headlines of a missile launch by North Korea that landed in the sea near Japan. However, each of the major equity averages soon recovered and resumed their advance, finishing near their best levels of the day. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the trade deficit in goods widened to $68.3B in October, which was larger than forecast. The FHFA home price index rose 0.3% to 253.0 in September. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index increased to 129.5 in November from 126.2 in October. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Rockwell Automation (ROK) rose 3% after Emerson (EMR) announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to acquire the company for $225 per share, citing Rockwell board’s “continued unwillingness” to engage in talks about a potential combination. For its part, Rockwell said it is “confident” that execution of its strategy will continue delivering “extraordinary shareowner returns.” Emerson shares also gained 3.7% following the announcement… In other M&A news, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) agreed to be acquired by Roark Capital’s Arby’s Restaurant Group for $157 per share in cash in a deal valued at approximately $2.9B including debt… Meanwhile, Reuters reported earlier that Alphabet’s (GOOG) Waymo has asked a judge to postpone its trade secrets trial against Uber so it can investigate whether the ride-hailing company withheld important evidence in the case. The Financial Times later said that Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing the case, delayed the trial and accused Uber of withholding evidence… In addition, Merck (MRK) shares added about 1% after the company raised its quarterly dividend to 48c from 47c and authorized an additional $10B of stock repurchases. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers after reporting quarterly earnings were Thor Industries (THO) and Tech Data (TECD), which rose 13% and 10%, respectively. Among the notable losers was Momo (MOMO), which fell 19% after reporting quarterly results. Also lower was Aratana Therapeutics (PETX), which dropped 19% after it filed to sell $35M in common stock last evening. INDEXES: The Dow rose 255.93, or 1.09%, to 23,836.71, the Nasdaq gained 33.84, or 0.49%, to 6,912.36, and the S&P 500 advanced 25.62, or 0.98%, to 2,627.04.
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