Stocks edge higher at beginning of holiday week

12/23/2013

NEW YORK — Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street today at the beginning of what is expected to be a slow holiday week.

Apple led technology stocks higher with a gain of 4 percent after striking a deal to bring the iPhone to China Mobile, the world’s largest cell phone carrier.

Darden, which runs Red Lobster and Olive Garden, rose 6 percent after activist investor Starboard Value took a stake in the company.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 73 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,294 today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose nine points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,828. The Nasdaq composite rose 44 points, 1.1 percent, to 4,148.

Trading volume was very light ahead of the holidays.

U.S. stock trading will close early on Tuesday and remain closed on Wednesday for Christmas.