Stocks Rebound on Dubai Details

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The major stock averages turned positive in the last hour of trading Monday, closing higher after emerging details about Dubai's debt restructuring calmed some investor angst, which helped outweigh bland holiday shopping showings.

A November surge in Midwestern manufacturing activity somewhat offset rampant pessimism about the economic recovery early Monday. But the market was weighed down much of the day by Dubai's debt troubles, which surfaced last week when trading was light due to the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and shortened trading session on Friday.

Still, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 35 points, or 0.3%, to 10,345, while the S&P 500 gained 4 points, or 0.4%, to 1096. The Nasdaq advanced 6 points, or 0.3%, to 2145.

CNBC reported late Monday that Dubai's investment arm would attempt to restructure $26 billion of debt, only a portion of the total $60 billion in liabilities Dubai expressed concern about last week. Because last week's announcement left so many outstanding questions, investors turned more confident on any numerical details today and pushed stocks higher at the end.

"The lack of transparency is often times worse than the actual outcome, so any sort of clarification is definitely helpful," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management. "Uncertainty hurts. It makes you question whether it truly is a contagion or if it's something that can be controlled."

Over the weekend, the central bank of the United Arab Emirates sought to minimize fears about the Dubai debt situation by offering to make fresh funding available to banks.