Stocks Opened Higher, Eyed on FedEx Deal

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, with deals including a bid from FedEx for a Dutch peer indicating companies still see value in the market. The Dow Jones industrial average lately gained 84.75 points, or 0.47%, to 17,965.60. The S&P 500 added 7.30 points, or 0.35%, to 2,087.92. The Nasdaq Composite rose 19.19 points, or 0.39%, to 4,936.50.

FedEx Corp. agreed to buy Dutch parcel-delivery company TNT Express NV for 4.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion), predicting it can succeed where bigger rival United Parcel Service Inc. was blocked by regulators in 2013.

The largest buyout of the year was announced on Tuesday, as Permira, an private equity firm, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said they had agreed to acquire Informatica, an enterprise software company, for about $5.3 billion. The buyers will pay $48.75 in cash for each share of Informatica stock.

Starbucks Corporation is expanding its college tuition assistance program to offer U.S. employees a full reimbursement of tuition for online bachelor’s degrees, company executives revealed on Tuesday.