US stocks up on Japan progress and T-Mobile acquisition

US stocks jumped higher on positive news from Japan and AT&T’s (NYSE: T) acquisition of T-Mobile.

The S&P 500 Index is up 17.66 points, or 1.38 percent, to trade at 1,296.86 at 1:29 p.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 174.56 points, or 1.47 percent, to trade at 12,033.08. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.65 percent.

The latest news out of Japan have been positive; power is back on at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and companies are beginning to resume operations.

The Japanese stock market was closed for a holiday but other Asian equities markets performed well on Monday.

“Markets have started the week with a calm risk-on tone,” said Elsa Lignos of Royal Bank of Canada.

The big corporate news coming out of the weekend was AT&T’s $39-billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA to create the largest wireless network in the United States.

AT&T shares are 1.3 percent on this deal.

The pick-up in M&A activity in recent quarters indicate that companies are feeling increasingly confident about the future.

[IBTimes coverage of the T-Mobile's acquisition:

-Sprint, Clearwire Likely To Merge: Analyst

-What does AT&T get from its $39 billion acquistion of T-Mobile?

-AT&T buys T-Mobile: What Does It Mean For Consumers?]

In the Middle East, a Libyan civil war rages on between pro- and anti- Gaddafi forces.

Crude oil futures have stabilized around $103 per barrel, below the recent high of $106.95 per barrel. This signifies that while the market is still uncomfortable with the potential impact of Libya’s turmoil on oil supplies, these fears remain contained in Monday’s session.