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NEW YORK: US stocks crept up to new 2009 highs on Monday in the final trading week of the year as momentum was weighed down by airline stocks following a failed attack on a US passenger plane last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.98 points (0.26 percent) to finish at 10,547.08, forging a six-session winning streak.
The technology-rich Nasdaq composite climbed 5.39 points (0.24 percent) to 2,291.08 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.30 points (0.12 percent) to close at 1,127.78.
The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 ended at their highest peaks since early October 2008, while the Nasdaq stood at its best level since early September last year.
The action came after Wall Street stocks racked up fresh 2009 highs in an abbreviated session Thursday on the eve of the Christmas holiday. US markets will be closed Friday for the New Year's holiday.
The three major indices spent much of the afternoon wavering around break-even before settling into the green in the final minutes of trade.
Airline stocks were major decliners, after the failed attempt on Friday to blow up an Amsterdam-Detroit flight. Before the market close, Al-Qaeda claimed the botched attack against the Northwest Airlines plane.
President Barack Obama pledged an all-out pursuit of the plotters of the failed Christmas Day bombing, vowing "we will not rest" until they were captured and prosecuted.
"The commander-in-chief's promise helped to ease flight-related fears, giving stocks an eleventh-hour boost back into the black by the close," said Andrea Kramer of Schaeffer's Investment Research.
Delta Air Lines, parent of Northwest, plunged 4.08 percent to 11.29 dollars. AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, lost 4.79 percent at 7.75 dollars and United Airlines's parent UAL Corp. skidded 3.44 percent to 12.64 dollars.
Trade volume was relatively thin, with many traders taking the week off and markets closed in Britain, Australia and India for holidays.
No major US economic data releases were on the calendar to influence the market.
"Investors continue to be encouraged by incrementally improving economic data and super-low short-term interest rates. Analysts also continue to lift earnings estimates for 2010, providing another nice boost to investor confidence," said Fred Dickson of DA Davidson & Co.
"We are in the classic Santa Claus rally period," said Al Goldman, chief market strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors, referring to the trading days usually associated with an upward bias.
Traders digested a positive holiday retail spending report from MasterCard Advisors Spending Pulse, showing sales rose 3.6 percent from a year ago.
Walmart, the world's largest retailer, edged up 0.71 percent to 53.98 dollars. Online retailer Amazon added 0.61 percent at 139.31 dollars and department store chain Macy's climbed 1.08 percent to 17.76 dollars.
Government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soared after the Treasury pledged virtually unlimited aid through 2012 after the market closed on Thursday. The move extended a September 2008 rescue of the firms that was set to expire December 31.
Fannie surged 20.95 percent to 1.27 dollars and Freddie clocked 26.98 percent higher to 1.60 dollars.
The bond market weakened. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.842 percent from 3.807 percent on Thursday while that on the 30-year bond increased to 4.704 percent from 4.687 percent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions. - AFP/de
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