Wall Street stocks jumped today, pushing up the Dow Jones industrials by more than 100 points as a report that two companies are trying to buy Alcoa Inc. stoked investors’ hopes for a pickup in takeover activity.

Wall Street retreated today after most of the day’s economic data showed weakness, including a report that manufacturing growth in October was the slowest in more than three years.

Wall Street surged higher today, carrying the Russell 2000 to a record close as Wall Street welcomed encouraging economic data and a continuation of double-digit corporate earnings growth.