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Wall Street Catches a Break

Robert Holmes

Stocks ended a light volume, holiday-shortened session with solid gains Friday, as retailers, financials and commodity stocks led the market higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 181.84 points, or 1.42%, to 12,980.88, and the S&P 500 was up 23.93 points, or 1.69%, at 1440.70. The Nasdaq Composite rose 34.45 points, or 1.34%, to 2596.60.

Markets were closed in the U.S. Thursday for Thanksgiving. The day after the break is typically one of the lowest-volume trading days of the year, and this year didn't disappoint. About 1.53 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and advancers beat decliners by a 5-to-1 margin.

Volume on the Nasdaq was 783 million shares, with winners topping those that fell by 3 to 1.

Shoppers appeared to be out in droves to take advantage of big promotions at Wal-Mart (WMT Quote), Best Buy (BBY Quote), Target (TGT Quote) and Macy's (M Quote).

The S&P Retail Index climbed 2.8%. Among the best performing names, Circuit City (CC Quote) jumped 19.5%, Target was up 5.7%, Kohl's (KSS Quote) gained 2.4%, and Wal-Mart added 1.9%.

"This is partially a technical bounce as everyone sold off and went home early Wednesday," said Edgar Peters, chief investment officer with Pan Agora. "It's difficult, though, to read a lot into today's move because of low volume and the early close."

Meanwhile, financials were buoyed by rumors E*Trade Financial (ETFC Quote) would be a buyout target. Shares soared 25.1% at $5.33. The KBW Bank Index rose 3.4%.

Oil prices were on the rise. Crude was holding near $98 a barrel, slightly higher for the day. Gold and silver futures also rallied. The Amex Gold Bugs Index was better by 3.7%.

In other corporate news, United Airlines parent UAL Corp. (UAUA Quote) is still open to a potential merger with another air carrier, according to a recent report in Business Week. Shares of UAL gained $1.23, or 3.2%, to close at $40.23.

There were no economic releases on the docket, and bond pits closed early. The 10-year Treasury note was flat in price, yielding 4.01%. The 30-year bond was up 13/32, yielding 4.43%.

Overseas markets were stronger. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2.1%. Japan was closed. Among European bourses, London's FTSE 100 rose 1.7%, while Germany's Xetra Dax was up 0.6%.