(RTTNews) -  Stocks rose by significant margins to open the holiday-shortened week on Monday, able to hold onto the bulk of their early gains. The major averages all ended the day firmly in positive territory, although well off their best levels of the day. The Dow ended the session up about 133 points, reaching its best closing level in over a year.

Initial gains among stocks came amid weakness in the U.S. dollar, which came following comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who indicated that the government may extend its mortgage backed security purchase plan past its expiration date in March.

Solidifying buying interest was a report from the National Association of Realtors, showing that existing home sales rose by more than anticipated in October. The strong sales growth was partly due to the first-time homebuyer tax credit, helping to drive the annual rate to its highest level since February of 2007.

Existing home sales jumped 10.1 percent to an annual rate of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised 5.54 million in September. Economists had expected sales to rise to 5.70 million from the 5.57 million originally reported for the previous month.

In corporate news, the race to acquire U.K.-based confectionery maker Cadbury (CBY) heated up, with Kraft Foods (KFT) reportedly considering an increase in its bid to $16.3 billion. U.S. chocolate maker Hershey (HSY) and Swiss chocolate giant Nestle have also shown interest in Cadbury.
The major averages moved well off their highs over the course of the trading day but still posted strong gains. The Dow closed up 132.79 points or 1.3 percent at 10,450.95, the Nasdaq advanced by 29.97 points or 1.4 percent to 2,176.01 and the S&P 500 rose by 14.86 points or 1.4 percent to 1,106.24.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mostly higher on Monday, although the Japanese market was closed on the day. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.9 percent.

The major European markets also saw notable gains, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rising by 1.7 percent, while the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index closed up by 2.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

In the bond markets, treasuries ended the session little changed. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note closed at 3.364 percent, rising by less than one basis point.

Health insurance stocks saw substantial gains, with the Morgan Stanley Healthcare Provider Index rising by 3.6 percent. With the advance, the index ended the session at its best closing level in nearly fourteen months.

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