Stocks Rally; Dow Reclaims 13,000

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The major U.S. equity averages soared as long checkout lines and positive economic data out of China and Germany supplied the fuel for a Black Friday lift-off.

The rally escalated throughout the session despite news of unsuccessful budget talks between European Union leaders in Brussels. A brief statement from the European Council pushed the timetable for a deal into 2013, stating: "The bilateral talks and the constructive discussion within the European Council show a sufficient degree of potential convergence to make an agreement possible in the beginning of next year."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 173 points, or 1.35%, to close at 13,009, the first finish above 13,000 since Nov. 6. The blue-chip index rose 3.35% for the week and is now up 6.48% in 2012.

The entire Dow closed in the green, led by Bank of America (BAC), Cisco (CSCO), du Pont (DD), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), United Techologies (UTX), and Wal-Mart (WMT).

The S&P 500 gained more than 18 points, or 1.30%, to close at 1409.15, its first finish above 1400 since Nov. 6. The index rose 3.62% for the week and is now up 12.05% year-to-date.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 40 points, or 1.38%, to settle at 2967. The index added 3.99% for the week and is now up 13.88% year-to-date.

All three indices finished just below their session highs.

The strongest sectors in the broad market were basic materials, conglomerates, consumer non-cyclicals, energy, financials and technology.

Volume was light, totaling 1.45 billion on the New York Stock Exchange and 793 million on the Nasdaq. Advancers were ahead of decliners on both exchanges by a wide margin with ratios of 5-to-1 on the Big Board and more than 3-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

The FTSE 100 in London rose 0.48% on Friday, while the DAX in Germany finished up 0.89%. A survey released Friday found that German business confidence rose unexpectedly in November after six straight monthly declines.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index on Friday closed with a 0.8% gain while China's benchmark index also ended higher. China's manufacturing expanded for the first time in 13 months in November, helping to boost global stocks on Thursday.

The U.S. economic calendar was empty.

Gold for December delivery rose $23.20 to settle at $1,751.40 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while January crude oil contracts were up 98 cents at $88.36.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury traded down 1/32, lifting the yield to 1.690%. The dollar was down 0.67%, according to the U.S. dollar index.

In corporate news, retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target (TGT) were in focus on Black Friday, so named because the day is traditionally when retailers turn a profit for the year. Many stores opened Thanksgiving night.

Wal-Mart shares rose 1.9%, while Target's stock advanced 1.2%. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was gaining 1.5%.

A standout within technology was Research In Motion (RIMM), whose shares soared nearly 14% on optimism over the company's BlackBerry 10 devices. RIM confirmed earlier this month that the BlackBerry 10 technology will debut at a launch event on Jan. 30, 2013.

1 2 Next › Last »