New York-- Stocks ended a volatile session Monday mostly higher, lifted by Warren Buffett's move to buy a railroad, but the Dow industrials fell.

Gold jumped to a record after India's central bank bought 200 metric tons of the metal.

Investors were encouraged by Berkshire Hathaway's agreement to pay $34 billion for Burlington Northern Santa Fe in what Buffett, Berkshire's chairman, termed an "all-in wager" on the future of the U.S. economy.

The announcement lifted shares of industrial, raw-material and energy stocks, and commodity prices rose as well. The Dow transportation average surged 5.3% as Burlington Northern, one of its 20 components, soared 28%. Among other railroads, CSX climbed 7.3%, while Norfolk Southern gained 5.4%.

Also bolstering the market was news late Monday that toolmaker Stanley Works was acquiring Black & Decker for $3.46 billion in stock. Black & Decker shares shot up 31%, while Stanley Works rose 10%.

Offsetting those upbeat developments were further worries about unemployment as healthcare-product giant Johnson & Johnson said it would cut as much as 7% of its global workforce to cut costs.