U.S. stocks powered by flurry of deals

11:40 am ET May 18, 2007

DJIA

13,525

+48.93

S&P

1,518

+5.25

NASDAQ

2,545

+5.68

10Yr

4.77%

+0.012

U.S. stocks powered by flurry of deals

NEW YORK
U.S. stocks were firmly higher on Friday, resuming the market's advance
after mild consolidation on Thursday, as a flurry of deals -- including
a Microsoft Corp. acquisition and a potential divestiture by General
Electric Co. -- boosted interest for blue chips, along with upgrades of
Intel Corp. and Verizon Corp.

China widens range that yuan can rise against dollar

NEW YORK
The People's Bank of China on Friday said it's widening the trading band
for the yuan, hiking interest rates and increasing banks' reserve
requirements, as authorities act to cool the red-hot stock market and
lessen pressure from disgruntled trading partners such as the United
States.
Microsoft to acquire aQuantive for $6 bln