As of Friday's close, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 124.35 points, or 1.02 percent, to 12,294.00, its highest closing since July 27.

　　The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 11.33 points, or 0.90 percent, to 1,265.33, positive for the year. The broader index gained about 4.5 percent in the last four days, its best performance since August.

　　The Nasdaq Composite Index was the only one in three major indexes still sinking in the negative territory for the year, rising 19.19 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,618.64 on Friday.

　　Trading was very light on Friday, the last trading session before the Christmas Holiday, as lots of investors have already closed their books to celebrate the holiday.

　　Stocks started the day basically flat. According to the Commerce Department, consumer spending rose just 0.1 percent in November, while the incomes also rose 0.1 percent, the weakest reading since August.

　　Meanwhile, a separate report showed business demand for long- lasting manufactured goods rose by the largest amount in four months in November, but the good news was dampened as declines in business capital goods excluding aircraft fell more than analysts expected.

　　Later, market climbed higher after report showed new home sales turning up in November. The Commerce Department said new-home sales rose 1.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 315,000.

　　Also offering some relief, the Senate and the House of Representatives on Friday both agreed by unanimous consent to extend the payroll tax cut, and President Barack Obama signed the bill right afterwards, avoiding a massive tax hike for 160 million Americans right after the New Year.

　　In other markets, the U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies in late New York trading on Friday as the surging yields of Italian bonds raised concerns about the European debt crisis.

　　Crude prices on Friday kept rising for the fifth straight trading day as tension in the Middle East raised worries about supply disruption. Light, sweet crude for February delivery added 15 cents, or 0.15 percent to settle at 99.68 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For this week, it soared 6.15 dollars, or 6.58 percent.

　　As for the coming week, all U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday for the Christmas Holiday and resume trading on Tuesday.