Buyout offers boost stocks

Stocks rallied Wednesday in the wake of healthy earnings reports, positive manufacturing news and a flurry of buyout offers, powering the Dow Jones industrials to another record close and the S&P; 500 to its highest level in more than six years.

Among the biggest deals of the day was a $10.6-billion offer from the Dolan family to take Cablevision Systems private.

The news about Cablevision, one of the fastest-growing U.S. cable TV companies, followed Tuesday’s word of another major media maneuver -- a surprise $5-billion bid for Dow Jones by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

“What’s driving the market is the same thing that’s been driving the market for a while -- good global growth and the shrinking supply of equities, either from corporate buybacks or from companies going from public to private,” said Bill Strazzullo, chief market strategist at Bell Curve Trading.

Shares of manufacturing companies that sell their products abroad posted sharp gains after government data showed bigger-than-expected increases in U.S. factory orders.

“Investors are becoming a little more comfortable with the state of the economy,” said Christopher Orndorff, head of equity strategy at Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles.

The Dow rose 75.74 points, or 0.6%, to 13,211.88. Earlier in the session, the blue-chip index hit a fresh trading high of 13,256.33. The Dow has set 16 record closes this year and 39 since the beginning of October. Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 9.62 points, or 0.6%, to 1,495.92.

Wall Street has been eyeing the index, waiting for it to move back above 1,500; the S&P; 500 hasn’t closed above that level since September 2000.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 26.31, or 1%, to 2,557.84. The Russell 2,000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 12.21, or 1.5%, to 828.46.

Bond yields rose after the release of the factory order data but ended little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note held steady at 4.64%.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Crude oil futures fell 72 cents to $63.68 a barrel in New York after weekly government figures showed larger-than-expected domestic supplies.

Overseas, indexes rose 0.7% in Japan, 1% in Britain, 0.6% in Germany and 0.5% in France.

In other market highlights:

* Dow Jones stock, which jumped 55% on Tuesday in response to News Corp.’s offer, fell 20 cents to $56 amid uncertainty over whether the family that controls the company would accept the $60-a-share bid. News Corp. rose 44 cents, or 1.9%, to $23.43.

* Cablevision jumped $3.23, or 9.9%, to $35.90 after the cable TV provider and owner of New York’s Madison Square Garden said members of the Dolan family had agreed to buy Cablevision shares they don’t already own for $36.26 a share. The family had tried three other times to take the company private.

* Time Warner said its first-quarter earnings fell 18%. The media conglomerate’s results topped Wall Street’s expectations, however, as growth in the company’s cable business boosted revenue. Time Warner rose 35 cents to $20.94.

* Yum Brands rose $3.61, or 5.7%, to $66.73 after its earnings report showed a tidy profit for its international operations.

* Blockbuster fell 81 cents, or 13%, to $5.40 after the company said its first-quarter loss widened amid a weak market for movie rentals and heavy spending on its online rental program.

* MasterCard jumped $11.50, or 10%, to $126.35, the stock’s highest level since going public last year, after the credit card company’s profit beat estimates.

* Real estate brokers CB Richard Ellis Group and Jones Lang LaSalle soared on strong earnings. El Segundo-based CB Richard Ellis jumped $4.74, or 14%, to $38.39. Jones Lang soared $13.52, or 13%, to $120.10.

* Among other Southland issues, Torrance-based tech gear distributor PC Mall surged $1.85, or 18%, to $12.28 after the company said it earned $1.9 million, or 14 cents a share, in the first quarter, contrasted with a loss of $55,000 a year earlier. Sales jumped 10% to $257 million.

Long Beach-based Molina Healthcare gained $3.14, or 11%, to $32.84 after the managed-care company reported a 12% rise in first-quarter profit, to $9.6 million, or 34 cents a share, topping estimates.

* Other acquisition deals announced Wednesday included a plan for Dutch retailer Ahold to sell U.S. unit Foodservice to a private equity consortium. U.S.-listed shares of Ahold ended up 92 cents, or 7.2%, to $13.65.

* Cavium Networks jumped $2.95, or 22%, to $16.45 on its first trading day. The Mountain View, Calif., maker of processors for computer networks sold 6.8 million shares at $13.50 each on Tuesday.