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New York - US stocks pushed sharply higher in opening trade Wednesday on bullish corporate news and new data showing private-sector hiring continued to be firm this month.
At 1400 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks had added 65.55 points (0.53%) at 12 344.56.
The broad-based S&P 500 index rose 7.55 points (0.57%) to 1 326.99, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 14.09 points (0.51%) at 2 770.98.
Corporate news driving the surge included a buoyant earnings report and forecast from discount retailer Family Dollar Stores, whose shares added 0.4% in early trade.
The market also got a charge from Valeant Pharmaceuticals's unsolicited $5.7bn bid for biotech firm Cephalon.
Cephalon's shares jumped 28.1%, while Valeant added 11.3%.
Shares in private-equity group Apollo Global Management fell 3.0% on the first day of trading after an initial public offering Tuesday priced at $19.
The market appeared content with the ADP payrolls firm's report that US companies added 201 000 jobs in March, a sign of steady, if not stellar, economic growth.
Coming on two previous months of over-200 000 figures, ADP said the data "removes any remaining doubt that private nonfarm payroll employment accelerated heading into 2011."
The bond market was slightly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.48% from 3.49% late Tuesday, while that for the 30-year slipped to 4.54% from 4.55%.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
