Stocks soar on Black Friday roaring sales

New York: The US stock market shared some Black Friday cheer with shoppers, rising sharply as people braved the annual post-Thanksgiving rush. Major stock indexes closed one of their best weeks of the year.

Traders were encouraged by positive economic news from Germany and China, two engines of global growth. Technology stocks soared after a few weeks of selling. And early reports from retailers suggested strong consumer spending. Many stores opened earlier than ever this year allowing for earlier informal reports about their performance.

The Nasdaq ended up 40.30 points, or 1.4 percent, higher at 2,966.85. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 172.79, or 1.4 percent, to 13,009.69, the first time since election day that the Dow closed above 13,000.

The S&P 500 added 18.12, or 1.3 percent, to 1409.15. The rally gave the S&P 500 its biggest weekly point gain since last December 49 points, or 3.6 percent. The Dow gained 3.4 percent and the Nasdaq almost 4 percent for the week.

The market closed early, at 1 p.m. EST.