Stocks climbed as merger activity combined with solid economic data and an upbeat outlook for the semiconductor sector to push two market indexes into positive territory for the year. Market Data Center Most Actives | Gainers | Losers New Highs and Lows | Money Flows Intraday Futures | Currencies Data: Overview | Treasurys | Forex | Crude | Gold The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 78.53 points, or 0.8%, to end at 10403.79, less than 25 points from its 2009 close. Both the Nasdaq Composite and Standard & Poor's 500-stock indexes turned black for the year. The Dow's strongest component was Intel, up 1.7%, with chip makers gaining broadly after SanDisk boosted its first-quarter projection, citing increased demand for memory chips. SanDisk leapt 12%. The market was buoyed by data showing strength in manufacturing activity and consumer spending. The data, coming in the wake of a recent mixed bag of economic reports, underscored a brighter start to the month, with guarded optimism the euro zone will come to the aid of Greece also fueling positive sentiment.[Read more...]