Wall Street boosted by takeover news

Wall Street was boosted Friday morning by corporate takeover news.

Reports said Microsoft has renewed talks to take over Yahoo Inc in a deal that could be worth 50 billion U.S. dollars.

Shares of Yahoo surged 4.60 dollars, or more than 16 percent, to 32.80 dollars, while Microsoft stock fell 45 cents a share to 30.51 dollars. Other tech stocks also rose at the takeover news.

Meanwhile, Reuters Group PLC said it had received a preliminary takeover offer. Reports said Thomson Corp., the financial data provider, was a front-runner to buy the company.

As of 10:00 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.96 to 13,259.34. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.15 to 1,507.54. The Nasdaq composite index went up 8.37 to 2,573.83.

Source: Xinhua