Around the World's Markets: New York

US STOCKS rose, as At Home Corp's $6.7bn purchase of Excite and Vodafone's $59.7bn acquisition of AirTouch fuelled a rally in Internet and telecommunications shares.

The Nasdaq Composite index closed above 2,400 for the first time, led by Microsoft, which was due to report earnings later in the day.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.67 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9,355.22. The broader S&P 500 index gained 7.63 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,250.89.