Stocks rose sharply Monday as the Dow surged about 150 points and the Nasdaq jumped to a 14-year high.
The rebound came as concerns over the Ukrainian conflict began to ease and investors shifted focus to corporate dealmaking and economic news.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.9% in morning trading and the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.
8%.The Nasdaq composite index gained for a fourth straight session and hit a fresh high for the year, jumping 0.9% and rising above 4500.
Shares of Dollar General jumped more than 10% after it jumped into the 'dollar store' wars by offering $9.7 billion for Family Dollar. That topped rival Dollar Tree's earlier bid of $8.5 billion. Family Dollar was up 4.6% and Dollar Tree dropped 1.8%.
Good news on the housing front added to the rally as homebuilders were feeling more confident about sales prospects. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index rose to its highest level since January.
European stocks were trading higher as Britain's FTSE 100 index was up 0.7% and Germany's DAX index jumped 1.4%.
But Asian markets were subdued by further signs of weakness in China's property market.Japan's Nikkei 225 index traded just above the flat line and Seoul's Kospi dropped 0.5%.
U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday.
