'Fiscal cliff' hope boosts Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Monday, giving the S&P 500 its best day since November 23, on rising hopes that negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" were making progress and that a deal could be reached in days.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 100.38 points, or 0.76 percent, to 13,235.39. The S&P 500 Index gained 16.81 points, or 1.19 percent, to 1,430.39. The Nasdaq Composite added 39.27 points, or 1.32 percent, to 3,010.60. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)