U.S. stocks begin session on positive note

New York -- U.S. stock indexes began Friday's trading session higher, reacting to news of a possible cash infusion for Merrill Lynch from Singapore.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 124.62, or 0.9 percent, to 13,370.26 in mid-morning trading. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 13.65, or 0.9 percent, to 1,473.77. The Nasdaq composite index really took off, climbing 36.34, or 1.4 percent, to 2,677.20.

Merrill Lynch reportedly is in advanced talks to receive $5 billion in cash from Temasek, Singapore's state investment company, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts said Merrill Lynch might have to make further write-downs on securities tied to badly performing U.S. mortgage loans.

The market also got a bounce from BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, which said its earnings more than doubled for its fiscal third quarter.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yielded 4.070 at mid-morning Friday.

The euro traded at $1.4380 from $1.4323 Thursday. The dollar was at 113.71 yen from 113.07 yen Thursday.

The Nikkei 225 closed up 1.5 percent at 15,205 in Tokyo.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.