WSJ.com: Markets
The Dow industrials jumped by 98.68 points to 13549.33 in an abbreviated pre-holiday session, as financial stocks advanced on optimism that banks and brokerages can find fresh sources of capital, and investors hoped holiday sales will turn out to be stronger than anticipated.
MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks opened higher Monday, with shares of blue-chip index component Alcoa Inc. up more than 1.6% after the aluminum giant agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses for $2.7 billion. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 59 points, or 0.4%, at 13,509.39. The broader S&P 500 Index rose 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,489.06 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,697.17. Trading will end early, at 1 p.m. Eastern in observance of the Christmas holiday.