IBT Staff Reporter

Wall Street rallied on Monday, with the S&P set to reverse a three-day sell-off, as a weak U.S. dollar and better-than-expected home sales data encouraged investors.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes jumped last month to their highest level in more than 2-1/2 years, but a fall in an economic activity gauge was a reminder recovery from recession would be patchy.

Nearly two dozen members of the U.S. Senate sought answers on Friday from General Motors and Chrysler on efforts to resolve complaints from dealers who lost business with the car companies.

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President Barack Obama's U.S. healthcare overhaul plan has cleared an important Senate hurdle but lawmakers warned on Sunday of challenges ahead in winning support for passage, even among Obama's own Democrats.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose in October at a faster-than-expected pace to the highest in more than 2-1/2 years as buyers rushed to take advantage of a popular tax credit, a survey showed on Monday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said on Monday its gauge of the national economy fell further into negative territory in October, in a report that suggested the economic recovery could be in trouble.

Speculation about a bid battle for Cadbury among Kraft Foods and other rivals lifted shares in the British confectioner to a new high on Monday but analysts doubt whether a competing bid will emerge.

Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson topped the list of winners at the American Music Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles Nokia Theatre.

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Goldman Sachs upgraded Nasdaq OMX Group to buy from neutral, citing underappreciated growth prospects. The brokerage said it sees the Nasdaq Stock Market parent company getting revenue of about $10 million a quarter from its new N2EX British wholesale power exchange, which the company runs along with Nord Pool.

People's United Financial Inc said it agreed to buy Financial Federal Corp for about $738 million in stock and cash to boost its equipment financing businesses.

Zions Bancorp said it will reduce the value of certain securities in its investment portfolio, resulting in a pretax loss of about $423 million on the securities, and expects a tax refund, sending shares up as much as 15 percent.

Unsurprisingly, iPhone sales are booming across Europe as the end of exclusivity arrangements rev up the demand for Apple mobile phones. Broadpoint AmTech analyst predicts Apple will finally do the same in the US and will add Verizon as a carrier in 2010.

Health insurer Humana Inc is looking for acquisitions in complementary areas to adapt to changing healthcare need, its Chief Executive Mike McCallister told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

Ciena Corp agreed to buy the optical networking and ethernet equipment businesses of bankrupt Nortel Networks for $769 million after trumping a bid from Nokia Siemens Networks.

Britain's Carphone Warehouse has stopped selling Sony Ericsson's flagship smartphone due to software problems, dealing a blow to the loss-making Japanese-Swedish firm's turnaround plans.

Incoming EDF chief executive Henri Proglio said he wanted to increase EDF's stake in his previous company Veolia Environnement without merging the two companies, according to a newspaper report. EDF, Europe's biggest power generator and operator of France's 58 nuclear reactors, should become a partner in the development of Veolia, Proglio told Les Echos on Monday, his first day in his new post.

Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, faces a power shortage and electricity rationing by the end of next year due to increased demand for power by the country's mining sector, an industry official said on Monday.

China Telecom aims to sell BlackBerry handsets and Palm smartphones in China by early next year, as it tries to gain share from its two larger mobile telecom rivals, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday.

Dutch telecoms group KPN agreed improved terms for the takeover of iBasis, securing the control it needs to turn around the loss-making global top-three voice traffic carrier.

Gunmen abducted and killed at least 21 people in the southern Philippines Monday, apparently to prevent a woman filing her husband's nomination to run for provincial governor in elections next year, the military said.

The Israeli government has suspended its decision to review and possibly cancel a tender won by the MTS group to build a light rail system in Tel Aviv, group leader Africa Israel Investments Ltd said on Monday.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc said Handok Pharmaceuticals Co Ltd will develop and commercialize Spectrum's experimental cancer drug in South Korea as part of a deal valued at more than $19 million.

Burford Capital, the AIM-listed investor in corporate lawsuits -- said on Monday it has made its first two investments since raising 80 million pounds ($132.3 million) in an IPO last month.

Japan Airlines Corp asked retirees and employees on Monday to accept an average 40 percent cut to their pension payouts and warned the struggling airline could face bankruptcy if an agreement could not be reached.

Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial has begun operations in Libya, hoping to take advantage of a potential boom in new share offerings, a company official said on Sunday.

Libya plans to sell shares in four state companies in initial public offerings (IPOs) in 2010, including two telecom firms, an iron and steel company and a bank, the chairman of the Libyan Stock Market said on Sunday.

Campbell Soup Co reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, helped by price increases and easing costs for ingredients including grains and tomatoes that offset a drop in sales.