Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words eve+investors. 2 news.

Stocks closed higher Monday afternoon at the end of a half-day of trading on the eve of a Christmas pause, as investors flocked to financial services firms after yet another Wall Street firm announced a big foreign cash investment.

Asian stocks started the week on an upbeat note with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tilting higher in a shortened pre-Christmas session as investors bought resource shares after metals prices firmed Friday. In South Korean shares also were higher, led by gains for Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.