New York, Sep 29 (Xinhua) US stocks rallied Monday as investors take the merger-and-acquisition deals as a sign of economic recovery.

Xerox said Monday it is buying the business processing company Affiliated Computer Services for about $6.4 billion in cash and stocks.

Johnson & Johnson, the world's largest maker of health-care products, has bought an 18-percent stake in biotech firm Crucell NV for $444 million.

Moreover, Belgian drugs, chemicals and plastics maker Solvay said on Monday it would sell its drugs unit to US partner Abbott Laboratories for about $6.6 billion.

Commodity prices rose on a weaker dollar, which in turn sent energy and basic materials shares higher.

Technology sector was uplifted after a Barclays Capital analyst raised his rating on Cisco Systems Inc. on optimistic revenue prospect due to improved demand from telecommunications companies.

The Dow Jones rose 124.17 to 9,789.36. Broader indexes also rallied. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 18.60 to 1,062.98 and the Nasdaq jumped 39.82 to 2,130.74.