Sprint soars after US judge approves merger with T-Mobile

Shares of telecommunications carrier Sprint were catapulted higher after a US judge gave the thumbs-up to its plans for a merger with T-Mobile.

District Judge Victor Marrero said the two companies' plans for a tie-up were not likely to restrain competition in America's wireless market, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Quite the opposite, on numerous occasions over the past decade, T-Mobile's actions had in fact spurred the sector's two main players to be more consumer-firendly, Marrero argued.

And a combination with Sprint would see the continuation of T-Mobile's "undeniably successful business strategy for the foreseeable future".

Shares of Sprint soared by 71.25% to $8.23 on the back of the news.