Stocks Merry Ahead of Holiday
12/24/07 - 01:34 PM EST
Robert Holmes
Retail stocks also got a lift, led by Target (TGT Quote - Cramer on TGT - Stock Picks). Earlier, William Ackman's hedge fund Pershing Square boosted its stake in the retailer to almost 10%. Target added $1.79, or 3.5%, to close at $52.47.
Among other retail names, Dillard's (DDS Quote - Cramer on DDS - Stock Picks), Sears Holdings (SHLD Quote - Cramer on SHLD - Stock Picks), Macy's (M Quote - Cramer on M - Stock Picks), Nordstrom (JWN Quote - Cramer on JWN - Stock Picks), and Saks (SKS Quote - Cramer on SKS - Stock Picks) were all higher by 1.6% or more. In other deal news, Alcoa (AA Quote - Cramer on AA - Stock Picks) said late Friday that it agreed to sell its consumer and packaging business to New Zealand's Rank Group for $2.7 billion. Shares of the Dow component jumped 66 cents, or 1.8%, to $37.01. Elsewhere, United Rentals (URI Quote - Cramer on URI - Stock Picks) ended its merger agreement with Cerberus Capital Management after losing a legal battle to keep the deal alive. Shares of the rental-equipment firm ended up 79 cents, or 4.4%, at $18.70. Monday's gains built on a rally Friday, when stronger-than-expected economic data and blowout earnings from Research In Motion (RIMM Quote - Cramer on RIMM - Stock Picks) sent stocks jumping. The Dow rose 205.01 points, or 1.55%, to 13,450.65. The S&P 500 added 24.34 points, or 1.67%, to 1484.46, while the Nasdaq jumped 51.13 points, or 1.94%, to 2691.99. In the absence of any economic data, U.S. Treasury prices were sliding. The 10-year note eased 10/32 in price, yielding 4.21%. The 30-year bond lost 18/32 in price, yielding 4.61%. Commodity prices finished the session with gains. Crude oil was up 27 cents to $93.58 a barrel, and gold and silver futures finished slightly higher. Overseas markets were solidly higher ahead of the holiday. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished 1.8% higher overnight. Among European bourses, London's FTSE tacked on 0.7% and the Paris CAC 40 added 0.2%. The U.S. markets, closed for Christmas Tuesday, will reopen Wednesday.
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