Wall Street advanced sharply yesterday, boosted by news that Merrill Lynch & Co. will receive an investment of up to $6.2 billion from two investment groups. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points.

Trading volume was light in an abbreviated session — a typical occurrence a day ahead of Christmas. Still, with only four trading days left in 2007 besides yesterday, investors were perhaps looking for any opportunity to tidy up their positions after a year that brought the return of volatility after several years of unusual calm.

Merrill Lynch provided the only significant news of the day. The investment firm said it was receiving a widely expected cash infusion from Singapore’s government-controlled investment fund, Temasek Holdings, and American-based money manager Davis Selected Advisors. The proceeds were expected to cushion Merrill’s mortgage-related writedowns for the fourth quarter.

The nation’s largest brokerage also said it would sell most of its commercial finance unit to GE Capital. Terms of the deal weren’t made public.

“The market is tacking on strong gains from Friday, a last-minute Santa Claus rally,” a chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners, Peter Cardillo, said. “The Merrill Lynch investment adds to stability in the market. I look at it as a vote of confidence on the part of foreign investors.”

Yesterday’s gains have some investors hoping for a year-end surge that often extends into the new year and can burnish portfolios. On Friday, the Dow rose more than 200 points and, along with the other major indexes, posted a gain of more than 1.5% for the session.

The Dow rose 98.68, or 0.73%, to 13,549.33.

Broader market indexes also advanced. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 11.99, or 0.81%, to 1,496.45; and the Nasdaq composite index rose 21.51, or 0.80%, to 2,713.50.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.21% from 4.17% late Friday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude rose 82 cents to $94.13 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Merrill Lynch fell $1.64, or 3%, to $53.90 after selling a stake in itself to strengthen its balance sheet. It joins a number of other global banks — including Citigroup Inc., UBS AG, and Morgan Stanley — to secure a capital infusion to diffuse losses from the credit crisis.

The nation’s largest brokerage also sold most of its commercial finance unit to GE Capital. The chief executive of Merrill Lynch, John Thain, who took over the position last month, has said he plans to use asset sales to help streamline the company.

Advancing issues led decliners by a 3-to-1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a light 1.21 billion.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 8.79, or 1.12%, to 794.39.

Overseas, stock markets in Japan were closed. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.70%, Germany’s DAX index rose 1.70%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.21%.