US stocks rise on Coca-Cola takeover; Nasdaq bids on OMX

dpa German Press Agency Published: Friday May 25, 2007

New York- US stocks rebounded Friday from three days of
declines after Coca-Cola agreed to buy Energy Brands and amidst
speculation about buyouts in the real-estate industry.
Coca-Cola Co, the world's largest soft-drink maker, is scooping up
Energy Brands Inc - also known as Glaceau - for 4.1 billion dollars.
The company controls about one-third of the market for flavoured or
enhanced vitamin water.

Twelve of 14 real-estate stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index
climbed after UBS AG said Archstone-Smith Trust may be a takeover
target, Bloomberg financial news service reported.

The New York-based Nasdaq and the OMX group that operates stock
exchanges in the Nordic and Baltic region announced plans to merge
their operations Friday. The deal was estimated to be worth 25.1
billion kronor (3.7 billion dollars) - but must still be approved by
the Swedish government, which holds 6.6 per cent stake in OMX.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 66.15 points, or
0.49 per cent, to 13,507.28. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index
climbed 8.22 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 1,515.73 points. The
technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 19.27 points, or 0.76 per
cent, to 2,557.19.

The US currency fell to 74.391 euro cents from 74.466 euro cents
on Thursday. The dollar gained against the Japanese currency to
121.80 yen from 121.62 yen on Wednesday.

Gold was off 3.70 dollars to 655.30 dollars per fine ounce.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

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