Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words dow+lead. 3 news.

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.

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- William Knapp, chief investment strategist for MainStay Investments, says investors should expect the economy to sidestep a recession in 2008, but noted that even if one occurs, "consumers will barely know it happened."

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Technology stocks up slightly Monday morning with Microsoft Corp. and newcomer NetSuite Inc. gaining more than 1%. The Nasdaq Composite Index , the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index were up fractionally. The Dow was ahead more than 60 points.