Shares in Countrywide Financial Corp. continued to rise Monday on reports the mortgage lender is exploring a possible merger with Bank of America.

Shares of the Calabasas mortgage lender were up 3.6 percent to 43.53 in midday trading, and have risen 8 percent since reports surfaced last week that it may form some sort of union with Bank of America, the nation’s largest consumer bank.

The talks could lead to a joint venture or alliance between the two firms, with the San Francisco bank being able to offer home mortgages through its huge branch network and Countrywide getting the support of the bank’s larger balance sheet to ride out the slowdown in the mortgage industry.

Neither Countrywide nor Bank of America have commented.