Stocks, 2009 | featured news

Dow futures were up 30 points. The S&P Case-Shiller home-prices indexes showed U.S. home prices decreased at a slower annual rate in October, but prices were flat compared to September.

Wall Street is likely to make a strong showing in the final week of 2009 as the bulls gear up to toast the first annual advance for U.S. stocks in two years on hopes of more economic stability in 2010.

A net 263,000 jobs were eliminated in September, pushing the jobless rate to a 26-year high. Stocks fall on the news. The nation's labor market took a turn for the worse in September as employers eliminated a net 263,000 jobs, far more than expected and reversing a pattern of steadily declining payroll losses in recent months, the Labor Department said today.

Investors are holding on to their optimism about the economy, sending stocks to fresh 2009 highs. Market indicators rose about 0.5 percent in midday trading Monday, following a surge in overseas markets and extending a big advance from last week.