Stock gains speed up

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock gains accelerated Monday morning, as investors scooped up a variety of issues ahead of Tuesday's expected interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones industrial average (Charts) added 0.8 percent around 3 hours into the session. The broader S&P 500 (Charts) index added 0.7 percent and the tech-fueled Nasdaq (Charts) composite added 0.6 percent.

The Fed's policy committee, meeting Tuesday, is widely expected to cut the fed funds rate, a key short-term lending rate, by a quarter-percentage point, to 4.25 percent, after cutting rates at the last two meetings. Some Wall Streeters are looking for a cut of a half-percentage point, but such bets were diminished by last week's mostly upbeat November jobs report.

Ahead of that, investors took in the morning's pending home sales index, which showed a rise of 0.6 percent, versus forecasts that sales would fall 1 percent.

In corporate news, UBS (Charts) issued a profit warning, said it will write down about $10 billion related to the credit market crisis and will borrow about $11.5 billion from outside investors.

McDonald's (Charts, Fortune 500), a Dow component, reported November sales at its stores open a year or more rose 8.2 percent, well above estimates.

MGI Pharma (Charts) rallied 16 percent after the drug company agreed to be bought by Japanese drug company Eisai for $3.9 billion in cash.

McDonald's was one of many Dow components rising, with 23 of the 30 blue-chip components higher. Other gainers included Alcoa (Charts, Fortune 500), Boeing (Charts, Fortune 500), General Motors (Charts, Fortune 500), Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (Charts, Fortune 500) and JP Morgan (Charts, Fortune 500).

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers 7 to 3 on volume of 350 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners eight to five on volume of 620 million shares.

Treasury prices slipped, boosting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.16 percent from 4.10 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell 33 cents to $87.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for February delivery rallied $14.10 to $814.30 an ounce.