- Obama says Boosting US Jobs is Top Priority
- More Consumers Giving 'Black Friday' the Cold Shoulder
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- Hewlett-Packard Earnings Rise, Match Guidance
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- Cramer: What Monday’s Housing Number Really Means
- Why the Dollar Will Likely Stay Weak for Some Time
- Bear, Lehman Execs Weren't Wiped Out by Crisis: Study
- How Real Estate Investors Skew Housing's Reality
- Can Murdoch Help Bing Challenge Google and Shift the Content Equation?
- HP's Mark Hurd
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- 9 Stocks That Play Rising Water Costs: Strategists
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Gold Prices Can Double in 3 Years: Portfolio Manager
- Nov. 23: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Help Wanted—Please Run $4 Billion University
- Apple Comes to AT&T's Rescue
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Why Amazon Rules Retail
- Paul: Audit the Fed
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- JAL Slides to Record Low on Bankruptcy Jitters
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- The Social Media Gaming Threat
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- Holiday Travel Outlook
- Gold Will Collapse Like Oil Did in 2008: Charts
Text Size 
CNBC.com
Stocks jumped Friday, setting the stage for a four-session winning streak, after a sharp jump in existing-home sales and some encouraging economic data out of Europe.
Existing-home sales surged 7.2 percent to a 5.24 million annual pace, the highest jump since August 2007. Economists had expected a rise of just 2.2 percent. Home sales were up 5 percent year over year. It was the fourth straight month sales have risen.
The Dow was up about 60 points before the report, then shot up to more than 100 points afterward.
The other big news of the morning was a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed chief said the economy is on the mend but recovery is likely to be sluggish and risks still remain.
"After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be leveling out, both in the United States and abroad, and the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery to an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Still, trading volumes have been low, typical of late summer, which could bring some volatility.
Asian stocks closed mostly lower, but China's Shanghai Composite Index [CN;SHI
Loading...
()
] managed to build on Thursday’s gains with a 1.7 percent rise.
AIG [AIG
Loading...
()
] shares rose more than 5 percent after the troubled insurer won dismissal of a $1 billion workers' compensation lawsuit.
Morgan Stanley [MS
Loading...
()
] rose folllowing news the brokerage is planning a hiring spree for up to 400 traders and salespeople as the investment bank looks to pull out of its string of quarterly losses.
Bank of America [BAC
Loading...
()
] and Citigroup [C
Loading...
()
] both rose, with Citi up nearly 3 percent.
Gap shares [GPS
Loading...
()
] rose after FBR raised its rating on the stock to "outperform" and both FBR and Jefferies raised their price targets on the stock. This came after Gap reported earnings late Thursday.
Starbucks [SBUX
Loading...
()
] made a move that sums up the economy right now: It's lowering the prices on some of its basic drinks like small coffees and lattes but raising the price on some of its larger, more complex drinks.
Eric Claus, CEO of the supermarket chain A&P [GAJ
Loading...
()
], said the stock market has gotten ahead of the consumer.
In earnings, retailer Ann Taylor [ANN
Loading...
()
] reported earnings of 6 cents a share that were better than Wall Street expectations.
And Aeropostale [ARO
Loading...
()
] rose after the teen chain reported a rise in same-store sales.
Send comments to .
- The show attracts a big TV audience every year, but this year it may take on even more importance.
- …you'll want to be prepared. Tips for getting the most out of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.
- Congressman Ron Paul explains to Squawk Box why he’s pushing legislation to audit the Federal Reserve.
- CNBC’s Phil LeBeau took a test drive of GM’s flagship electric car. Here’s what he thought of the Volt.
- The energy company Power Efficiency is building tools that regulate the power electric motors use.
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes