Nasdaq Pegs 2000 Again

Updated from 4:05 p.m. EST

Stocks finished sharply higher Monday afternoon as the traditional Santa Claus rally continued into the last trading week of the year with the Nasdaq Composite closing above the 2000 mark for the first time since January 2001.

The Dow added 125.33 points, or 1.2%, to 10,450.00, a 21-month closing high; the S&P 500 rose 13.59 points, or 1.2%, to 1109.47, a 20-month high; and the Nasdaq gained 33.34 points, or 1.7%, to 2006.48, a 23-month high.

Volume was very light as the holiday trading pattern continues; 1.06 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, while 1.40 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. Advancers beat decliners by more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by about 7 to 3 on the Nasdaq.

Ken Tower, chief market strategist at CyberTrader, attributed today's strength to the "Santa Claus bounce, the fact that it is the first day back for a lot of people and a general recognition that money is still coming into the market."

The economic calendar is light Monday, with the only item of note being the Conference Board's help-wanted index, which improved to 39 in November from 37 in the previous month. Economists expected a smaller increase to 38.

Japanese officials also say it's too early to lift a ban on U.S. beef that was imposed in the wake of last week's detection of mad cow disease in the Pacific Northwest. U.S. agricultural officials continue to struggle with efforts to recall meat taken from the cow's herd, which is now thought to have originated in Canada. According to reports, the infected cow was slaughtered on Dec. 9 with 20 other cattle at a meatpacking plant in Washington state. Its beef was distributed to retailers in Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.