Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words shares+shortened. 4 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks finished higher in Monday's shortened trading session, aided by a flurry of M&A deals that included a $2.7 billion sale by Alcoa Inc. of its packaging and consumer businesses. In preliminary closing figures, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106 points to 13,555, the S&P 500 Index gained 12 points to end at 1,497 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 22 points to 2,713, with shares of Apple Inc. approaching the $200-a share mark. Apple's stock ended up 2.8% at $198.80.

European shares edged higher in a shortened session on Christmas Eve.

Britain's top share index has risen in a shortened Christmas Eve trading session as banks regained ground and as generally firmer raw materials prices lifted commodity shares.

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.