Wall Street ends with moderate gain; Dow up 92 points

In US market stocks closed higher as investors appeared more enthused about Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! Than they were concerned about the latest signs of economic weakness. Yahoo shares shot up nearly 50% on the news while Microsoft shares fell more than 6%, making it the biggest decliner on the Dow.

The deal sets up a battle of titans between Microsoft and Google for internet supremacy. Google shares, not surprisingly, skid following the announcement. Also the company's earnings disappointed the street. Google's reported revenue grew 52.1% but that was still not enough to meet expectations.

Elsewhere in the technology sector, the world's third-largest mobile phone maker Motorola said it was considering a spinoff or sale of its mobile-phone division, which accounts for about half of revenue. Motorola shares rose more than 10% following a 28% drop in January.

Investors shrugged off a mixed bag of economic news with an unexpected 17,000-job drop in nonfarm payrolls, lower-than-expected consumer confidence and a positive manufacturing report.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 92.83 points, or 0.73%, to 12,743.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 16.87 points, or 1.22%, to 1,395.42, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 23.50 points, or 0.98%, to 2,413.36.

A look at how the Indian ADRs performed: