Stocks Merry Ahead of Holiday

Retail stocks also got a lift, led by Target (TGT Quote). 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), Sears Holdings (SHLD Quote), Macy's (M Quote), Nordstrom (JWN Quote), and Saks (SKS Quote) were all higher by 1.6% or more.

In other deal news, Alcoa (AA Quote) 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) 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) 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.