Stocks ended a shortened session firmer yesterday, led by a rally in oil and Internet retailing shares, and bonds rose in light trading. The dollar rose on hopes for lower European interest rates and concerns that Japan's efforts to revive economic growth may slow. US markets closed early after the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.80, or 0.2 per cent, to close at 9,333.08. The stock market closed early, a day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
In the broader market, advances led declines by a margin of 1,469 to 1,190 on very light volume of 256.8 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Nasdaq composite index was up 31.23 points, or 1.57 percent, at 2,016.44.
Dow component Exxon Corp., the largest oil company in the US, rose 1-3/4 to 74-3/8. It touched a new high for the year of 77-5/16 after disclosing it was in talks to merge with the second-largest US oil company, Mobil Corp., which jumped 7-1/8 to 85-1/2.
"This merger is so big, it raises the bar in terms of how big Wall Street thinks a company can get," said Mr Jeffrey Davis, of State Street Global Advisors.
rang up the Dow's strongest gains as Wall Street bet the oil company might be the next to be acquired. Without the gains in the two stocks, the Dow would have closed lower.
In the bond market, the 30-year Treasury rose 11/32, or $3.4375 on a $1,000 bond, lowering its yield to 5.16 per cent from 5.19 per cent on Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
