NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks continued to climb up Friday within striking distance of their all-time highs set on Dec. 5 on bullish market sentiment, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average logged its 700-point gain in the past two days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 26.65 points, or 0.15 percent, to 17,804.80. The S&P 500 climbed 9.42 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,070.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 16.98 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,765.38.
On the previous trading day, the Dow marked its first 400-point gain since November 2011, and the S&P 500 witnessed the best day since January 2013, as investor sentiment was buoyed substantially by the Federal Reserve's adjustment in describing its policy guidance.
The U.S. central bank said it can be "patient" in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy, according to a statement released Wednesday following the Fed's last two-day policy meeting of this year, soothing anxious investors.
Overseas markets saw broad gains Friday on speculations of increasing monetary stimulus by other major central banks. Japan's benchmark Nikkei index closed 2.39 percent higher to 17,621.40 points and Chinese Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.67 percent to 3,108.60. In addition, European stocks ended in mixed territory.
Providing some upward jolts to the stock market, crude prices rebounded Friday from a five-year low as investors started to buy dips after a sharp decline. Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved up 2.41 U.S. dollars to settle at 56.52 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The U.S. stocks experienced a mild pullback earlier this month, as the oil prices were hit hard and fluctuated around more-than- five-year lows amid oversupply concerns.
For the week, the Dow went up 3.0 percent, and the S&P 500 ticked up 3.4 percent, while the Nasdaq gained 2.4 percent.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 1.90 percent to end at 16.49 on Friday.
In other markets, the U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies as Fed officials said it is "reasonable" for the central bank to raise interest rates in mid-2015.
In late New York trading, the euro decreased to 1.2225 dollars from 1.2283 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 119.51 Japanese yen, higher than 118.81 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as light trading began ahead of the holidays. The most active gold contract for February delivery increased 1.2 dollars, or 0.10 percent, to settle at 1,196 dollars per ounce.
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