Dealmaking was big, very big on the international front as billion-dollar deals were struck while domestic buyers came home to sweep up stocks. The rally ended March with the best month since the bottom of the 2002 bear market. The Dow finished Tuesday up 86.90, or 1.16%, to 7,608.92, and the Nasdaq inched up 26.79, or 1.78%, to 1,528.59. Overall, the Dow finished up 8% while the Nasdaq increased 8% for the month of March.
Buyers flocked to the downtrodden banking sector as J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) all finished in the green.
Meanwhile, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced it agreed to A$7.3 billion ($5.2 billion) purchase of Australian fund Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group. The Deal's Giles Parkinson says the agreement is "a further sign that the listed specialist fund model pioneered by Macquarie Group Ltd. is fading away."
In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co. agreed to invest €3.3 billion ($4.4 billion) to become a 47% shareholder in the oil refiner known as Cepsa by buying the stakes of two Spanish shareholders.
As part of the deal, Banco Santander SA (NYSE:STD) agreed to sell its 32.5% stake in Cia. Espanola de Petróleos SA to the state-owned investor for €33 per Cepsa share, or €2.9 billion in total. International Petroleum will also acquire utility Union Fenosa SA's 5% stake at the same price per share, for a total of €441.5 million. - Gerald Magpily
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