US stocks rallied on Friday for a fifth day and were on track to record their best week in nearly a year, after a surprising jump in manufacturing data eased concerns about a tepid economic recovery. Consumer discretionary and financial stocks led the day's advance. But trading volume was well below average ahead of the long holiday weekend, with just 2.73 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 125.93 points, or 1.01 percent, at 12,540.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 12.74 points, or 0.96 percent, at 1,333.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 30.85 points, or 1.11 percent, at 2,804.37. The S&P 500 climbed further above resistance at its 50-day moving average at 1,317, establishing another floor in the market after the benchmark index moved above a number of technical resistance levels. Ford Motor shares rose 1.7 percent to $14.02 after the US automaker said June sales shot up 14 percent.