US stocks move higher, following gains in Europe; Family Dollar jumps on new bid

U.S. stocks are moving higher, following big gains in Europe and the latest moves in corporate dealmaking.

A bidding war for Family Dollar sent that company's stock higher. Family Dollar rose 5 percent after Dollar General offered to pay about $9 billion for the discounter in an effort to trump Dollar Tree's bid.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 160 points, or 1 percent, to 16,822 as of noon Eastern time Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,970.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 38 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,503.

European markets also rose. Germany's DAX rose 1.7 percent and France's CAC-40 rose 1.4 percent.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.38 percent.