Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words financial+session. 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.

FT.com - Wall Street stocks rose on Monday after Merrill Lynch announced a capital injection of up to $6.2bn, spurring a rally in financial stocks at the start of an abbreviated Christmas-Eve trading session.

Stocks made headway Monday morning as news from Merrill Lynch helped boost the financial sector and an upbeat retail sales report suggested consumer confidence is stronger than expected.