国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks hit fresh multi-year highs

NEW YORK, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks Monday hit fresh multi-year highs on positive corporate earnings, deals news and tension easing in Egypt.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.48 points, or 0.57 percent, to 12,161.63, its highest close since June 16, 2008. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 14.69, or 0.53 percent, to 2,783.99, its highest finish since Nov. 6, 2007.

And the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 8.18, or 0.62 percent, to 1, 319.05. It was its highest close since June 25, 2008. The S&P 500 is up 4.9 percent so far in 2011, adding to the gains in the latter half of 2010.

About 72 percent of S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far posted stronger-than-expected earnings. Investors expect aggregate earnings rose 37 percent in the last quarter, the highest estimate for that period in more than 10 months.

A stream of deals further boosted the sentiment. Biomedical- testing company Beckman Coulter jumped 10 percent after diversified manufacturing and technology company Danaher said it would pay 5.87 billion dollars for Beckman. Danaher rose 2.2 percent.

Pride International surged nearly 16 percent after U.K.-based oil driller Ensco said it would buy the company in a cash-and- stock deal that values Pride International at a premium of 21 percent over its closing price Friday.

Chesapeake Energy rose 4 percent after the firm said it would sell its Fayetteville shale assets and equity stakes in Frac Tech Holdings and Chaparral Energy for about 5 billion dollars.

Berkshire Hathaway said it plans to buy the rest of the remaining 19.9 percent of Wesco Financial shares it doesn't already own, sending Berkshire class B shares up 1.1 percent. Wesco Financial gained 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, worries about the unrest in Egypt started to ease as opposition parties met with the government over the weekend and banks opened for the first time in more than a week.

The S&P capital goods sector led the rise with 1.04 percent gain, the conglomerates sector rose 0.97 percent and the financial sector added 0.79 percent. In the boosting financials, Loews gained 4.5 percent after the conglomerate's fourth-quarter profit rose, as its CNA Financial insurance unit's earnings surged and it reinstated its quarterly dividend. American International Group gained 5.5 percent.

Among Dow financial components, Bank of America gained 2.7 percent, while American Express climbed 2.3 percent and J.P. Morgan Chase rose 2 percent.