Banks Lead US Stocks Broadly Higher in Early Trading<br />DONE DEAL: Spectranetics surged 26.2 percent after Dutch electronics<br />and health care technology company Philips said it agreed to buy the medical device company for $38.50 a share, or $1.68 billion.<br />BANKING ON FINANCIALS: Banks were trading higher for the second day in a row amid higher expectations of rising interest rates.<br />BEAT THE STREET: General Mills rose 2.6 percent after the maker of Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt<br />and other packaged foods served up fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.<br />KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 12 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,431 as of 10:06 a.m. Eastern time.<br />U. S. stocks moved broadly higher in early trading Wednesday, recouping some of the losses from a day earlier.
