U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday, as investors looked to finish the year with a strong ending. U.S. stocks have climbed 6 percent in December and are on track to post double-digit percentage gains for the year. For 2010 overall, The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 11 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index is up nearly 13 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up nearly 18 percent. In U.S. economic news, a district judge ruled that the German-based business software maker SAP will have to pay rival Oracle millions of dollars in interest on the $1.3 billion copyright infringement verdict. SAP shares rose 0.5 percent and Oracle shares fell 0.2 percent. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell 37 cents to $91.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $7.90 to $1,413.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.84, or 0.1 percent, to 11,585.38. Bank of America's stock fell 0.1 percent as Allstate filed a lawsuit against the bank and its Countrywide Financial unit for more than $700 million in mortgage-backed securities that the insurance giant had purchased. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.27, or 0.1 percent, to 1,259.78. The index made its best December gains in almost 20 years, with the index gaining 6.7 percent so far this month and rising in 17 of the last 20 sessions. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 4.05, or 0.2 percent, to 2,666.93.
