US stocks rose on Friday following encouraging economic data on consumer sentiment and trade, while the S&P 500's break above key levels pointed to further gains. After rising above the key technical level around 1,228, the S&P 500 was trading just above 1,235, which represents the two-year intraday high reached earlier in the week.
In the latest signs of improvement in the US economic recovery, data showed consumer sentiment rose more than expected in early December, while import prices in November climbed at their fastest pace in a year. Another positive signal came from the Commerce Department, which said the US trade deficit narrowed much more than expected in October.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 18.39 points, or 0.16 percent, to 11,388.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.23 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,237.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.29 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,628.96.
Comments
Comments are closed.