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Tuesday, December 24, 2013 – Daily News 5A Apple, other tech stocks lift the broader market NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose in quiet trading Monday as investors start to close the books on 2013. Apple helped lift technology stocks after the company reached a deal to sell the iPhone to China's largest wireless carrier. The market has been moving broadly higher since last Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve said it will start pulling back on its stimulus program next month as the U.S. economy improves. Last week the government also raised its estimate for third-quarter economic growth to 4.1 percent, the fastest pace since 2011. ''Everything is going in the right direction,'' said Rob Stein, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Astor Investment Management. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73.47 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,294.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was Wall Street up 9.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,827.99. The Nasdaq composite rose 44.16 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,148.90. Apple rose $21.07, or 4 percent, to $570.09 after the company reached a deal with China Mobile, the world's largest cell phone provider, to sell the iPhone in the world's most populous country. The iPhone is already sold through two smaller carriers there. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent, more than twice as much as the broader index. Trading was very light ahead of the Christmas holiday. Just 2.8 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, well below the recent average of 3.4 billion. Both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market will be closed Wednesday for Christmas. Both exchanges will also close at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday for Christmas Eve. The market is heading for its best year in more than a decade. The S&P 500 index has increased 28 percent so far this year — 30 percent when dividends are included — putting it on track for its biggest annual gain since 1997. ''People want to hold on to these gains, so no one is going to take any undue risks this close to the end of the year,'' said Stephen Carl, head equity trader at Williams Capital. The next two weeks, with Christmas and New Year's Day both falling in the middle of the work week, will likely have light trading, he said. In other economic news, consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in November, the most since June. Those are closely watched figures, especially leading up to the holiday season. Retailer Jos. A. Bank rejected a $1.5 billion buyout offer from Men's Wearhouse on Monday. The rivals have made offers to buy each other in recent months, only to be rejected by the other party. Jos. A. Bank fell 74 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $56.29 and Men's Wearhouse fell 38 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $51.63. Facebook rose $2.65, or 5 percent, to $57.77. The social network was added to the S&P 500 effective Monday. Fund managers who replicate indexes like the S&P 500 are required to purchase stocks in a company when it's added. Target fell 61 cents, or 1 percent, to $61.88 after The Wall Street Journal reported that sales fell 3 percent to 4 percent in last weekend before Christmas. Target is dealing with a massive breach of security in credit and debit card data. Bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10year Treasury note rose to 2.93 percent from 2.89 percent. Gold fell $6.70, or 0.6 percent, to $1,197 an ounce. Gold has slumped 29 percent this year and is headed for its first annual loss since 2000. Traders have dumped gold as the fear that the Federal Reserve's easy-money policies would cause inflation dissipated. San Francisco transit, union leaders reach pact SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The threat of another commute-crippling transportation strike in the San Francisco Bay area receded on Saturday when officials for the region's transit rail system and negotiators for its two largest labor unions said they had resolved the latest sticking point in their months-long negotiations and reached a new contract. Bay Area Rapid Transit district and union leaders said the four-year deal reached early Saturday settles a dispute over paid medical leave for employees that arose last month after the two sides had approved an October agreement that ended the second of two strikes BART workers staged this year. ''I'm hopeful this is the last stop and that we can get off this wild ride of negotiations and that the parties can get back to our main focus, which is delivering people to and from their points of interest,'' Saul Almanza, a BART worker safety specialist and Service Employees International Union vice president. Under the revised agreement BART posted on its website, workers who need to take time off to care for sick family members will be allowed to decide how to use sick days, vacation time and other accumulated paid days off to maintain their paychecks. They also will have the option of taking up to 12 days off without pay. The language replaces a provision in the October agreement that would have given workers up to six weeks of paid family leave a year. After that first deal was approved by union members, BART officials said the paid leave provision had been included by mistake and that honoring the benefit would cost the according to the statement. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said district officials would not comment further on the agreement until after union leaders had a chance to present the terms to their members. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 President Antonette Bryant confirmed by phone that a deal had been reached during the early morning negotiations. She declined, however, to discuss details until union members have had a chance to see the agreement. The BART statement says the contract dispute was resolved with solutions that either are administrative or can be covered within the transit system's existing budget. Regular BART riders had mixed reactions to the news that another agree- system $44 million over the life of the contract if onethird of the agency's workers took advantage of it. The district's board subsequently stripped the disputed section from the contract, raising the possibility of a third strike and prompting the latest round of labor talks. BART General Manager Grace Crunican said in a statement early Saturday that she will recommend that the board of directors approve the new agreement as soon as possible. BART officials have agreed to get the contract ratified before the unions vote on it. ''After eight months of uncertainty for our riders, this deal will guarantee that every ounce of the agency's focus will be directed to providing great service to the Bay Area during the peak holiday period and beyond,'' Crunican said, Is Your Check Engine Light On? 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