By DPA,
New York : US stocks were up Friday, with the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index closing at a two-year high, as investors welcomed new data that showed the US trade deficit narrowed in October.
According to data from the Commerce Department, the trade deficit decreased 13 percent to $38.7 billion. It said that exports were the strongest since August 2008, with Mexico and China buying large amounts of US goods.
The decline brought the trade deficit to a nine-month low – exports climbed 3.2 percent to $158.7 billion and imports fell 0.5 percent to $197.4 billion.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 40.26 points, or 0.35 percent, to 11,410.32. The broader S&P 500 added 7.40 points, or 0.60 percent, to 1,240.40. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 20.87 points, or 0.80 percent, to 2,637.54.
For the week, the Dow was up 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 percent.
The US currency gained against the euro to 75.60 euro cents from 75.55 euro cents Thursday. The dollar also gained ground against the Japanese currency to 83.94 yen from 83.75 yen.