US STOCKS-Tech rally, oil's fall drive Wall St's gains

* Dow, S&P and Nasdaq rise 1 percent or more

* BlackBerry maker pushes tech stocks higher

* Financials gain on bond insurer MBIA's outlook

* Falling oil price eases fears about inflation (Updates close with new comment, Apple shares and latest Nasdaq volume)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, May 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as the introduction of a faster BlackBerry spurred optimism about business spending on technology, while cooling oil prices eased inflation concerns.

Research in Motion Ltd (RIM.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (RIMM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) jumped 6.9 percent to $141.97 and hit a record, giving the tech sector an early lift. Nasdaq extended gains late in the session after news Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is close to a deal to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp (EDS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for as much as $13 billion.

Financial shares also gained, as the long-suffering bond insurer MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which reported stronger-than-expected results, said the volume of new business appears to be rising.

The Dow also got a big boost after Citigroup raised its forecast for the price of aluminum, lifting shares of Alcoa Inc (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 6.6 percent. Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a top maker of earth-moving equipment, also rose.