Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words gains+rose. 6 news.

AP - Wall Street advanced sharply Monday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co. will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from two investment groups. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points.

THE yuan climbed to the strongest since a link to the US dollar was scrapped two years ago after the central bank said exchange-rate flexibility will rise, spurring speculation it plans to widen the daily trading band. The yuan rose 0.3 percent to 7.3475 per US dollar at 5:30pm in Shanghai, bringing gains this month to 0.7 percent. The central bank set the reference rate at 7.3315 yesterday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The rate touched 7.3405 yesterday, the highest since the peg ended in July 2005. The People's Bank of China said in a statement last Friday that it will let the market play a bigger role in setting the exchange rate.

ASIAN stocks rose for a second day, led by electronics makers, after consumer spending increased more than forecast in the United States, the region's biggest export market. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, maker of iPods for Apple Inc, and Samsung Electronics Co climbed to the highest in more than a week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced the most in three weeks last Friday after the report on November spending eased concern about recession in the world's biggest economy. "US shares showed firm gains, and we're seeing the influence in shares today (yesterday)," said Kim Jae Dong, who oversees the equivalent of US$8.6 billion at Korea Investment Trust Management Co in Seoul. BHP Billiton Ltd led an increase among miners after metals prices climbed, and a UK regulator set a deadline for a formal takeover bid for Rio Tinto Group. The MSCI Asia Pacific, excluding Japan Index, rose two percent to 524.1 as of 3:38pm in Hong Kong, with all 10 industry groups climbing.

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.

Wall Street advanced sharply Monday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co. will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from two investment groups. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points.

DOMESTIC stocks climbed and pushed the Shanghai index to a nine-day high in the morning session today, buoyed by rising blue chips across the board. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, jumped 1.37 percent, or 69.87 points, to 5,171.65 at 11:30am today. The Shanghai index opened at 5,132.91 at 9:30am today, 31.13 points higher than its close at 5,101.78 at 3pm last Friday. Gains in the Shanghai market outnumbered losses 717 to 48 and 81 were unchanged. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, gained 2.09 percent, or 28.72 points, to 1,404.61. Copper stocks rose thanks to rising copper prices. Tongling Nonferrous Metals, China's biggest copper producer, advanced 1.97 percent, or 0.48 yuan (6 US cents), to 24.82 yuan. Jiangxi Copper Co, the second-biggest, added 3.32 percent, or 1.67 yuan, to 51.99 yuan. Yunnan Copper Industry Co, the third-largest, climbed 2.94 percent, or 1.15