Stocks finished higher Friday, with the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index closing at a 2-year high, as investors welcomed positive economic reports and a dividend hike by General Electric (GE). In international economic news, the people's Bank of China further increased its reserve requirement ratio for banks as part of an ongoing effort to cool inflation and avoid and economic downturn. The move raised speculation that the central bank could increase interest rates next year. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. trade balance, which measures the difference between the nation's imports and exports, narrowed to $38.7 billion in October, down 13 percent from $44.6 billion in September, according to the Commerce Department. Economists were expecting a deficit of $44.5 billion. The decline brought the U.S. trade deficit to a 9-month low, as exports jumped 3.2 percent to $158.7 billion, the highest level since August 2008, and imports fell 0.5 percent to $197.4 billion. Meanwhile, a separate report showed that the index of consumer confidence for early December rose to 74.2 from 71.6 last month. Economists expected a more modest increase to 72.5 percent. In company news, GE announced plans to pay a fourth-quarter dividend of 14 cents per share, up from 12 cents, and said it expects to make “opportunistic share repurchases” next year. The U.S. dollar gained against the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery fell 58 cents to $87.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $6.40 to $1,386.40 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.26, or 0.4 percent, to 11,410.32. GE was the biggest gainer on the Dow rising 3.4 percent after the company increased its quarterly dividend 17 percent to 14 cents per share. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.40, or 0.6 percent, to 1,240.40-the highest point since September 2008. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 20.87, or 0.8 percent, to 2,637.54-the highest level since December 2007.
