US stocks opened higher after plummeting yesterday due to renewed fears of a Greek exit from the Eurozone.
The Dow Jones climbed 52 points to 18,123 while the Nasdaq climbed 31 back above 5,000 and the broader S&P 500 rose 10 points to 2,109.
The Dow rose despite chemical company Du Pont’s share price dropping like a stone.
The company announced today it has defeated activist investment firm Trian Fund Management’s campaign to land seats on its board.
The battle was said to be close with American businessman Nelson Peltz, owner of the investment fund, saying a few votes could have swayed the result, but in the end Dupont won. Shares in Dupont plummeted 5% to US$70.
Tech giant Microsoft led the risers on the Dow after it was upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank. Shares rose 1.5% to US$48.
Elsewhere, Delta Airlines shares took off after it said it will return $6 billion to shareholders through 2017.
The airline will raise its dividend by 50% and plans to implement a US$5bn share buyback over the next two years. Shares climbed 3.5% to US$47.
Danaher said it has agreed to buy Pall Corp, a maker of fluid-filtration systems, in a deal valued at US$13.8 billion. Pall shares jumped 5% to US$124 while Danaher was 3% higher to US$88.
Meanwhile in the UK, the FTSE 100 was 27 points higher to 6,960.
On the UK’s main index, paper maker Mondi (LON:MNDI) pulled off a punchy performance in its first quarter with operating profit 29% higher than the previous year to €236mln. Shares leapt 10% to 1,433p.