| Dow | 12,273.26 | +43.97 | +0.36% |
Stocks ended higher Friday, reaching fresh multi-year highs, after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned in response to demonstrations against his rule, helping lift investor sentiment and uncertainties surrounding the country
The S&P 500 rose 7.28 points to close at 1,329.15, reaching the highest close since June 19, 2008. For the week, the index gained 18.28 points, or 1.39 percent.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 18.99 points to finish at 2,809.44, touching levels not seen since November 6, 2007. For the week, the index gained 40.14 points, or 1.45 percent. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, fell below 16.
In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned and handed over control of the country to the military, ending 30-years of rule, announced Vice President Omar Suleiman.
The president "has decided to give up his position as president of the republic," Suleiman said on national TV and added that the president had charged the higher military council to run affairs in the "tough circumstances that the country is passing through."
After refusing to step down until the September elections, Mubarak finally bowed to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands
In the day's economic news, the U.S. trade gap widened in December, with the full-year trade gap registering its biggest percentage increase in 10 years, according to the Commerce Department. The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services rose 5.9 percent to $40.6 billion from a slightly revised $38.32 billion the month before, topping economists' estimates for a $40.5 billion shortfall.
Meanwhile, consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in eight months in early February, boosted by recent tax cuts and optimism about the economy, according to a survey from Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan.
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