The total value of deals globally jumped about 48 percent to $3.06 trillion as of Nov. 20, compared with the same period last year, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc) retained its No. 1 position as M&A adviser with deals worth $877 billion, followed by JPMorgan Chase & Co (>> JPMorgan Chase & Co.) with $651 billion and Citigroup Inc (>> Citigroup Inc) with $633 billion.

Morgan Stanley (>> Morgan Stanley) slipped to the fifth position from third last year.

The M&A market, which was the doldrums following the financial crisis, got a lift from a resurgent stock market and growing confidence among cash-rich companies.

The $66.4 billion bid for Allergan Inc (>> Allergan, Inc.) by Actavis PLC (>> Actavis PLC) this week more than doubled the total value of deals in the healthcare sector to $364 billion.

Halliburton Co's (>> Halliburton Company) plans to buy smaller rival Baker Hughes Inc (>> Baker Hughes Incorporated) for about $38.5 billion raised the value of deals in the energy sector by 68 percent to $516.3 billion.

Other notable deals include Comcast Corp's (>> Comcast Corporation) $45.2 billion bid for rival Time Warner Cable Inc (>> Time Warner Cable Inc).

The United States led the way with about $1.41 trillion worth of deals, up 58 percent compared with last year.

(Reporting by Avik Das in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)