U.S. stocks finish up on short trading day
NEW YORK, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes rose during a shortened session ahead of the Christmas holiday.
In light-volume trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 98.68, up 0.73 percent, to close at 13,549.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 11.99, 0.81 percent, to finish at 1,496.45. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 21.50 points to 2,713.50, a 0.8 percent increase.
"It's been pretty quiet day," Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer at Oaktree Asset Management, told The Wall Street Journal. "Fewer people are in so traders can push stocks around."
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,243 stocks advanced and 854 declined on listed volume of 1.2 billion shares.
The 10-year U.S Treasury bond fell Monday, yielding 4.21 percent.
The dollar was mixed overseas. The euro traded at $1.4403 from $1.4358 Friday. The dollar traded at 114.415 yen from 114.20 yen.
The London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent to finish at 6,479.3 on a shortened trading day because of the Christmas holiday.
The Japanese market was closed Monday for a holiday.
Charities feeling economic bite
UTICA, N.Y., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Groups set up to help ease the plight of the needy are strapped themselves during the holiday season, with officials blaming a sour U.S. economy.
Toys for Kids in Utica, N.Y., had hoped to collect 7,500 toys for its clients. It probably will miss its target for the first time in 17 years, co-chairman Al Pulaski told USA Today, blaming the economy.
"Gas is $3 a gallon," he says. "Winter has set in, and people are concerned about their heating bills."
Charities across the United States are experiencing the same problems, said Michael Nilsen, of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
"The housing crisis and problems in the economy couldn't have hit at a worse time," he said.
A survey by the association revealed that 26 percent of charities polled were raising less money this holiday season than in 2006, Nilsen said, while 48 percent were raising more.
India markets close higher on Modi win
NEW DELHI, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- India's stock markets soared Monday largely on the huge re-election win of Chief Minister Narendra Modi in prosperous and investment-savvy Gujarat state.
Modi helped his Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party win a fourth straight term with a large majority in the state despite a spirited campaign to paint him as a Hindu fanatic by Congress party of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which leads the country's ruling coalition.
The Press Trust of India reported Mumbai's main 30-share Sensex rose 691.55 points to close at 19,854.12 points. The smaller National Stock Index jumped 218 points to end the day at 5,985.10.
Gujarat is Indian markets' main state for the attracting domestic and foreign investments. PTI quoted analysts that the Modi victory was the main reason for Monday's huge jump while the buoyancy in Asian markets on receding slowdown concerns in the United States also contributed.
The Gujarat election verdict "assured the investors about continuing investment flow into the state," domestic brokerage firm SMC Global's Vice President Rajesh Jain told PTI. Among the big winners were companies based in Gujarat.
Tomato pickers' wages hot issue in Fla.
MAITLAND, Fla., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A farm workers' group may have persuaded two fast-food giants to have their tomato suppliers pay pickers more, but it still faces obstacles in Florida.
The workers' efforts ran into opposition from Burger King, which refused to ask its suppliers to pay higher wages, and a main growers' association in Florida, which threatened a $100,000 fine against growers cooperating with McDonald's or Yum Brands, Taco Bell's parent, The New York Times reported Monday.
"The only way you can describe this industry is the way it was described 40 years ago: It's a harvest of shame," said Lucas Benitez, of the the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the farm workers' organization.
Steve Grover, vice president for food safety and regulatory compliance at Burger King, said his company refused it did not employ pickers directly.
The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, representing 90 percent of Florida's growers, threatened "non-compliance penalties" for growers sharing information about wages or tonnage picked with third parties, the Times said.
Reggie Brown, the exchange's executive vice president, said the Maitland, Fla., group's lawyers indicated the Coalition of Immokalee Workers violated antitrust laws in joining with Yum Brands and McDonald's to get growers to pay higher wages.
