US stocks open higher as global markets gain

US stocks opened higher Monday riding a global wave of market gains helped by more indications of economic life in Europe.

Thirty minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 93.48 points (0.52 percent) at 18,117.54.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 11.50 (0.55 percent) to 2,119.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq gained 34.00 points (0.68 percent) at 5,039.39.

Markit Economics's closely watched Purchasing Managers Index for the eurozone showed manufacturing continued to expand in April. The final manufacturing PMI came in at 52.0, better than the initial estimate of 51.9.

Dow member McDonald's shares lost 0.4 percent after it released plans to restructure its global organization to address sagging sales around the world.

"Our new organization creates a structure under which leadership of McDonald's new segments will be able to more effectively address the common needs of their markets and customers," said new chief executive Steve Easterbrook.

Dow Chemical gained 0.2 percent as it announced layoffs over the coming two years affecting 3 percent of its global workforce, as it hives of its chlorine industry businesses.

Cisco's announcement of company veteran Chuck Robbins to be its new chief executive replacing John Chambers, who built the company into a global networking giant, boosted its shares by 0.4 percent. Chambers will remain chairman of the board and become executive chairman.

Time Warner Cable shares were back in play, gaining 0.8 percent under rising expectations that Charter Communications (+1.7 percent) is seeking a merger. On April 24 Comcast and Time Warner gave up their merger plan on the objections of antitrust regulators.

Berkshire Hathaway B shares surged 1.5 percent after the company's weekend shareholder meeting, in which founder Warren Buffett fended off questions over his partnership with Brazil investment group 3G, with which Berkshire partnered in the takeovers of Heinz and Kraft Foods.

The 84-year-old Buffett also told investors he was confident in the US economy and in the ability of Berkshire to perform after he is gone.

Bond prices gained. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.10 percent from 2.11 percent Friday, while the 30-year fell to 2.81 percent from 2.82 percent. Bond yields and prices move inversely.