NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday as the introduction of a faster BlackBerry spurred optimism about business spending on technology, while cooling oil prices eased inflation concerns.Research in Motion Ltd (Toronto:RIM.TO - News; NasdaqGS:RIMM - News) jumped 6.9 percent to $141.97 and hit a record, giving the tech sector an early lift. Nasdaq extended gains late in the session after news Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE:HPQ - News) is close to a deal to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp (NYSE:EDS - News) for as much as $13 billion.
Financial shares also gained, as the long-suffering bond insurer MBIA Inc (NYSE:MBI - News), which reported stronger-than-expected results, said the volume of new business appears to be rising.
The Dow also got a big boost after Citigroup raised its forecast for the price of aluminum, lifting shares of Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA - News) 6.6 percent. Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT - News), a top maker of earth-moving equipment, also rose.
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