Business news for Mon, 31 Dec 2007 & with words trading+york. 7 news.

Stocks that were moving substantially or trading heavily Monday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq are observing regular trading hours Monday, but both will close Tuesday in observance of New Year's Day. However, the bond markets are closing at 2 p.m. Monday ahead of the holiday.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose modestly on Monday, boosted by continued concerns on political tensions in Pakistan and tight supplies in the U.S. Crude futures for February delivery gained 60 cents, or 0.6%, to $96.6 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose to an intraday high of $96.78 earlier in electronic trading. "The geopolitical upheaval triggered by the [former Pakistani prime minister Benazir] Bhutto assassination could get stirred up again ahead of the January 8th elections," said Edward Meir, an analyst at futures brokerage MF Global, in a research note.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Vonage Holdings Corp. said Monday that it has agreed in principle with Nortel Networks Corp. to end the pending litigation between them. According to a release from Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage, the contemplated settlement involves a limited cross license to three Nortel and three Vonage patents and does not call for monetary payments by any party. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nortel filed a lawsuit against Vonage, alleging that Vonage violated nine patents related to Internet phone services, countering Vonage's claims that Nortel had violated three of its patents. Shares of Vonage, which closed Friday at $2, were up about 9% in premarket trading Monday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to push a little higher on the last trading day of the year on Monday, but data on existing home sales could limit any advance.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Delta Petroleum Corp. jumped in Monday pre-market trading after the oil and gas exploration and development company said it would sell a 35% stake to Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp., a move that will help Delta fund its development and drilling activities in Colorado and Utah.

The rand is trading unchanged at R6.80 against the dollar at compared to its previous close in New York, holding on to its strong gains over the past week.