FORTUNE — Records are made to be broken. And as the Dow Jones industrial average showed Monday, sometimes those records are broken quickly.
After rising to a new record high of 16,583.34 at Friday’s close, the Dow index finished Monday up 112 points, or 0.7 percent, and at a new record close.
Other stock gauges also rallied. The S&P 500-stock index closed Monday up 18 points, or 1 percent, while the tech-rich NASDAQ Composite index added 72 points, or 1.8 percent.
The S&P 500 closed at its ninth record high of the year, while the NASDAQ Composite saw its biggest one-day percentage gain since Jan. 30, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The Russell 2000, which tracks small-cap stocks, saw a gain of 2.4 percent.
Monday’s economic calendar was light, but the day’s rally followed news of M&A activity.
Hillshire Brands said it would pay $6.6 billion to purchase Pinnacle Foods, while the board of Botox-maker Allergan rejected a $46 billion unsolicited offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Also, Pfizer prepared to woo U.K. lawmakers in its plan to buy AstraZeneca for $106 billion.