NEW YORK — Wall Street advanced sharply Monday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co. will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from two investment groups. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points.
Trading volume was light in an abbreviated session — typical for the day before Christmas. Still, with only four trading days left in 2007 besides Monday, investors were perhaps looking for any opportunity to tidy up their positions after a year that brought the return of volatility after several years of unusual calm.
Merrill Lynch provided the only significant news of the day. The investment firm said it was receiving a widely expected cash infusion from Sing apore’s government-controlled investment fund, Temasek Holdings, and U.S.-based money manager Davis Selected Advisors. The proceeds were expected to cushion Merrill’s mortgage-related write-downs for the fourth quarter.
The nation’s largest brokerage also said it would sell most of its commercial finance unit to GE Capital. Terms of the deal weren’t made public.
“The market is tacking on strong gains from Friday, a last-minute Santa Claus rally,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York- based brokerage house Avalon Partners.
Monday’s gains have some investors hoping for a year-end surge that often extends into the new year and can burnish portfolios. On Friday, the Dow rose more than 200 points and, along with the other major indexes, posted a gain of more than 1.5 percent for the session.
The Dow rose 98.68, or 0.73 percent, to 13,549.33. Broader market indexes also advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 11.99, or 0.81 percent, to 1,496.45; and the Nasdaq composite index rose 21.51, or 0.80 percent, to 2,713.50.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.21 percent from 4.16 percent late Friday. The dollar was mixed.
