Stocks End Higher Ahead of Fed Meeting
U.S. Market
Stocks rallied today ahead of this week’s highly anticipated Fed policy meeting.
Industrial production was up 0.1% in February from the previous month. The reading was well below the 0.3% increase expected by economists. January’s data was revised downward to a 0.3% decline from an initially reported 0.2% gain. Capacity utilization fell to 78.9% from 79.91%.
The Empire State survey, which measures the strength of the New York manufacturing sector, fell to 6.9 in March from 7.8 in the previous month. Economists had expected an expansion to 8.5.
At market close the S&P 500 was up 1.4%, the Dow rose 1.3% while the Nasdaq was 1.2% higher.
Stocks on the Move
In response to Endo's (ENDP) last-minute bid, Valeant (VRX) has raised its all-cash offer for Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP) to $173 per share from its previous offer of $158. The raised offer adds nearly an additional $1.3 billion, for a total enterprise value of approximately $15.8 billion. Valeant’s breakup fee will increase by $100 million under the new offer to nearly $450 million, and Endo has announced that it will withdraw its stock-and-cash offer for Salix. Valeant and Endo shares were each up over 2% on the news.
