U.S. stocks rose for a third consecutive session Friday, with the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index recording its second-best week in almost two years. Since Wednesday, stocks have rallied on the statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) that it will be "patient" in its timing on raising interest rates for the first time in years. On Thursday, the Dow industrials climbed more than 400 points for the first time in three years. In U.S. economic news, 41 of the 50 states reported declines in unemployment in November. The U.S. dollar gained against currencies of major trading partners. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for January delivery rose $2.41, or 4.4 percent, to $56.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $1.70 to $1,196.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 27.67, or nearly 0.2 percent, to 17,805.82. Nineteen of the index's 30 components rose, led by energy giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil, whose shares rose more than 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Nike led losses after the sporting-goods maker's future orders disappointed. Other decliners included Intel and Coca-Cola. The broader S&P 500 index rose 9.43, or almost 0.5 percent, to 2,070.66, with energy rising the most of its 10 major sectors. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 16.98, or 0.4 percent, to 4,765.38. Shares of BlackBerry fell 1 percent after the wireless-device maker posted a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly revenue.
