Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with word session. 28 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - U.S. stocks ended higher Monday in a shortened Christmas Eve trading session, aided by flurry of deals which included Alcoa Inc.'s $2.7 billion sale of its packaging and consumer businesses.

SHARES in Shanghai closed higher yesterday for the fourth consecutive session as transactions grew, boosted by investors building up positions in this year's last week of trading in hopes of a bullish 2008. Shares of PetroChina and brokers led the gain in the key index. The Shanghai Composite Index, tracking yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B chips, jumped 132.48 points, or 2.6 percent, to end at 5,234.26. It was the index's longest winning streak in nearly two months during which the market underwent correction on concerns of overvaluation. The A share barometer rose 2.6 percent while the B share gauge gained 1.32 percent. Transactions soared nearly 40 percent yesterday from last Friday to more than 140 billion yuan (US$19 billion). Gainers outpaced decliners by 641 to 116 with another 116 shares unchanged. "The market is still bullish as the fundamentals haven't changed. The listed firms' growth might be slowing a little but the momentum is still there,"

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.

The Canadian dollar rode a wave of positive sentiment to close higher against the U.S. dollar for a seventh straight session Monday, helped by a rally in equities markets, higher oil prices and positive news on the asset-back commercial paper front.

The major indexes finished in the green after a shortened session Monday. One solar company surged 15%...

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.

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.

Commodities prices closed mostly higher Monday following an uneventful, shortened trading session ahead of Christmas. Oil, gold and industrial metals rose slightly.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Treasurys were slightly lower Monday, pushing up yields, as firm stock prices decreased the appeal of fixed-income assets in extremely thin pre-holiday trading. U.S. bond trading will end early on Monday, and overnight Japanese and German markets were closed Monday for holidays. "With the holiday-shortened week, our expectations for any paradigm shifting events are pretty light," said David Ader, U.S. government bond strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. "With the bench players now in the field until the New Year, we would err on the side of limited conviction for any moves over the next few trading sessions." The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down 7/32 at 100 12/32, with a yield of 4.2%. The 30-year bond was down 10/32 at 106 9/32 with a yield of 4.61%. The two-year note was down 2/32 at 99 26/32 with a yield of 3.21%. On Wednesday, the Treasury Department will sell $22 billion in two-year notes, and on Thursday, it will sell $13 billion in five-year notes.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Airline stocks took an early turn into positive territory Monday, led by 3% gains for American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and US Airways Group . The Amex Airlines Index was ahead 1.5% in early trades at 37.04 points, drawing strength from lower fuel prices to outpace a 0.6% rise in the broader equities market. Volume is likely to be light in the shortened pre-holiday session, which wraps it all up ahead of Christmas at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar ticked higher against the yen while losing ground against the euro Monday, but remained in recent ranges in extremely thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. "The U.S. economic calendar is empty on Monday, and we expect the greenback to remain rangebound through the morning session," wrote currency analysts at Action Economics. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 77.595, compared with 77.730 late Friday. The euro was trading at $1.4396, up from $1.4356 late Friday, while the pound was at $1.9773, down from $1.9810. Against Japan's currency, the dollar was buying 114.29 yen, up from 114.06 yen Friday.

U.S. stocks opened higher Monday in an abbreviated - and likely light - trading session on Christmas Eve.

Wall Street stocks were set for a flat start ahead of an abbreviated Christmas Eve trading session with Merrill Lynch's sale of a lending unit the pick of corporate deal news

U.S. stocks were set to open higher Monday, in what was expected to be a light half-day trading session on Christmas Eve.

On the morning of the last trading session before Christmas, stock futures pointed to a flat open.

FT.com - Wall Street stocks were set for a flat start on Monday ahead of an abbreviated Christmas Eve trading session with Merrill Lynch's sale of a lending unit the pick of corporate deal news.

Stocks are set to rise Monday ahead of a shortened Christmas Eve trading session. Markets were higher in Europe and Asia.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stock market futures help broadly steady ahead of a shortened Christmas Eve trading session Monday, with Alcoa Inc. among the stocks in focus after it agreed to sell its packaging and consumer businesses.

Ahead of a shortened pre-Christmas trading session, global signals are mixed for North American stock markets while the Canadian dollar has climbed above 101 cents US.