US STOCKS-Wall Street rallies on Mexico relief, M&A cheer

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Trump calls off tariffs as Mexico vows to tighten borders
* U.S. automakers GM, Ford rise
* United Tech, Raytheon to create $121 bln aero-defense
giant
* Salesforce.com falls after deal to buy Tableau Software
* Indexes up: Dow 0.68%, S&P 0.92%, Nasdaq 1.75%

(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Aparajita Saxena
June 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes gained on
Monday, after the United States abandoned its plans to impose
tariffs on Mexican goods, while a multi-billion dollar deal in
the industrial space added to the upbeat sentiment.
Mexico on Friday agreed to step up efforts to stem the flow
of illegal Central American migrants, following threats from
U.S. President Donald Trump to impose a 5% import tariffs on all
Mexican goods starting Monday. "Both the U.S. economy and the Mexican economy would have
been worse off had the tariffs been imposed," said David Kass,
professor of finance at the University of Maryland.
"Investors are also optimistic today in the hope that the
trade war with China will also be resolved in the near future,"
Kass said.
The S&P 500 index .SPX and the Dow Industrials .DJI rose
to a one-month high, following their biggest weekly gains on
Friday since the end of November. The benchmark index is now
just 2% short of its all-time high hit in early May.
U.S. automakers, which have long built vehicles in Mexico,
traded higher, with General Motors Co GM.N gaining 2.1% and
Ford Motor Co F.N 1.3%. Corona beer maker Constellation Brands
STZ.N , which has significant Mexico exposure, rose 2.1%%.
United Technologies Corp UTX.N agreed to combine its
aerospace business with defense contractor Raytheon Co RTN.N
to create a new company worth about $121 billion. "It is not just about the market, it is the underlying
economy which is not likely to weaken if you have these signs of
business optimism," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist
at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
Shares of United Technologies, however, fell 1.7%, after
Trump said he was a "little concerned" about their merger as it
could take away competition in the sector. Raytheon rose 2.2%.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT rose 1.7% and provided the
biggest boost among the nine major S&P sectors trading higher.
Large-cap companies, including Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft
Corp MSFT.O , Amazon.com AMZN.O and JPMorgan Chase JPM.N ,
rose between 1.6% and 4.4%.
At 11:39 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 176.68 points, or 0.68%,
at 26,160.62, the S&P 500 was up 26.30 points, or 0.92%, at
2,899.64 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 135.47 points,
or 1.75%, at 7,877.58.
In another deal, Salesforce.com Inc CRM.N said it would
buy big data firm Tableau Software DATA.N for $15.3 billion.
Salesforce.com shares fell 4.5%, while those of Tableau jumped
34.9%. Among sectors, only the defensive utilities .SPLRCU ,
consumer staples .SPLRCS and real estate .SPLRCR were
trading lower.
Chemical marker LyondellBasell Industries LYB.N rose 4.9%,
the most among S&P companies, following a 37 million share
buyback program on Monday. Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O gained 4.6% after the packaged food
company said the financial numbers it restated last month were
accurate following completion of an internal investigation.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.13-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 58 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 84 new highs and 34 new lows.