After Thursday's holiday, US stocks extended their rally to a fifth day on Friday, with the Standard & Poors 500 Index capping its biggest weekly advance in in 34 years, dpa reported.
As US shoppers swarmed stores on Black Friday - traditionally the nation's biggest annual shopping day as consumers rush out to make use of bargains - experts were bracing for a disappointing outcome amidst the financial crisis.
Target Corporation shares slumped 3.9 per cent as retailers extended deep discounts, Bloomberg financial news service reported.
Citigroup Inc continued to rally from the government guarantee of its troubled assets. General Motors and Ford surged 8.9 per cent and 25 per cent respectively as they discussed ways to cut costs and get federal aid.
Investors were also anticipating a new congressional stimulus package once president-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20.
"We are cautiously bullish," Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Ridgeworth Capital Management in Richmond, Virginia, was quoted as saying.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.43 points or 1.17 per cent, to 8,829.04. The S&P 500 jumped climbed 8.56 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 896.24. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased 3.47 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 1,535.57.
The US currency jumped to 78.794 euro cents from 77.482 euro cents on Wednesday. The dollar fell against the Japanese currency to 95.525 from 95.678 yen on Wednesday.