Deals Fire Up Stocks

Among commodities, the front-month April crude contract lost 52 cents to $56.59 a barrel. Natural gas fell 8 cents to $6.84 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals rose. Gold tacked on 40 cents at $654.30 an ounce, and silver was higher by 2 cents at $13.23 an ounce.

In the absence of any economic data, Treasuries declined. The 30-year bond was lower by 10/32 in price to yield 4.71%, and the 10-year note was down 6/32, yielding 4.57%.

In ratings moves, Piper Jaffray upgraded AnnTaylor (ANN Quote) to market perform from underperform, citing better-than-expected guidance for fiscal 2008. The stock was higher by 18 cents, or 0.5%, to $38.78.

Goldman Sachs upped DaimlerChrysler (DCX Quote) to neutral from sell, and JPMorgan raised its rating for Walgreen (WAG Quote) to overweight from neutral.

DaimlerChrysler gained $2.76, or 3.8%, to $74.70. Walgreen climbed 27 cents, or 0.6%, to $46.53.

Equities were stronger overseas. Frankfurt's Xetra DAX added 1.4% at 6671, while London's FTSE ended up 1% at 6189. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.6% overnight to 17,009, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7% to 19,266.