US STOCKS-Wall Street climbs on merger deals, vaccine hopes

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* Nvidia climbs on $40 bln deal for chip designer Arm
* Pfizer, BioNTech expand late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial
* Oracle surges on report of partnering with TikTok parent
* Indexes up: Dow 0.96%, S&P 1.35%, Nasdaq 1.97%

(Updates to market open)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's major indexes climbed on
Monday on a boost from technology stocks while signs of progress
in developing a COVID-19 vaccine and a spurt of multi-billion
dollar deals also brightened the mood.
Nvidia Corp NVDA.O jumped 9.0% on plans to buy UK-based
chip designer Arm from Japan's SoftBank Group Corp 9984.T for
as much as $40 billion, in a deal set to reshape the global
semiconductor landscape. The Philadelphia SE chip index .SOX rose 2.6%. The tech
index .SPLRCT added 2.4%, more than any other major S&P
sector.
Oracle ORCL.N surged 4.3% to near record highs after
sources told Reuters that the cloud services firm beat Microsoft
in the battle for the U.S. arm of TikTok with a deal structured
as a partnership to navigate geopolitical tensions. Microsoft Corp MSFT.O erased premarket losses to rise
1.7%.
"Wall Street always rewards growth," said Kim Forrest, chief
investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.
"That's why these deals are exciting, because if you put two
companies together, by definition, you're going to have
inorganic growth, but you're going to see growth."
The S&P 500 is coming off of two straight weeks of losses as
investors sold heavyweight technology shares that had powered
the benchmark index to record highs in a dramatic recovery from
its March lows.
On Monday, Amazon.com AMZN.O rose about 1.6% after the
online shopping giant said it is hiring 100,000 more workers in
its latest job spree for the United States this year - to keep
pace with e-commerce demand that jumped during the pandemic.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Facebook.com FB.O and Google-parent
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O rose between 1.4% and 3%.
At 9:51 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 266.26 points, or 0.96%, at 27,931.90, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 45.18 points, or 1.35%, at 3,386.15. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 214.34 points, or 1.97%, at 11,067.89.
Global equities also got a lift on Monday after drugmaker
AstraZeneca AZN.L resumed its British clinical trials of its
COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most advanced in development.
MKTS/GLOB
Pfizer Inc PFE.N gained 1.1% after the drugmaker and
German biotech firm BioNTech SE 22UAy.F proposed to expand
their Phase 3 pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial to about 44,000
participants. Later this week investors will focus on the Federal
Reserve's last policy meeting before the Nov. 3 U.S.
presidential elections.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O slipped 1.1% as it said will
acquire biotech company Immunomedics Inc IMMU.O for $21
billion, a move that will strengthen its cancer portfolio by
gaining access to a promising drug. Shares of Immunomedics more than doubled in value.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.19-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 4.59-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded eight new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 26 new highs and 10 new lows.