Wall St jumps with energy, materials, Berkshire deal

Wall St had its best day in three months, propelled by resurgent energy stocks and another big acquisition by Warren Buffett. Energy stocks followed the price of oil higher. Industrial stocks climbed after Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy Precision Castparts, a maker of industrial components, for $32 billion. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 26.61 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 2,104.18. It was the biggest gain for the index since May 8. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 241.79 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 17,615.17. The Nasdaq composite climbed 58.25 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 5,101.80. Benchmark US crude shed 39 cents to $44.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.09 to $44.96 on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 33 cents to $50.08 after soaring $1.80 the previous session to $50.41, according to AP.

-SRS