Stocks rose yesterday as retailers like Wal-Mart Stores. and Yahoo! reported holiday sales that added up to a merry Christmas and gave investors hopes for a happy new year.

Chip titan Intel and other semiconductor stocks, which often rebound ahead of an economic recovery, also helped push the market higher. Oil shares, including Exxon Mobil, joined the upward trend on expectations that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would announce hefty output cuts this week.

The market's rally lost steam shortly before the closing bell after the release of a video tape showing Osama Bin Laden alive. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52.80 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 10,088.14, ending well off an earlier gain of more than 1.3 per cent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.71 points, or 0.41 per cent, to 1,149.36. The technology-packed Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 16.22 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 1,960.70, after rising more than 2 per cent earlier.

Analysts are forecasting gains in 2002 after two dismal years for the stock market. The Standard & Poor's 500 has jumped almost 20 per cent since the market hit three-year lows on September 21st after the attacks on the United States. Companies could post their worst earnings drop of the year in the fourth quarter.