U.S. STOCKS, BONDS

Energy and materials shares led U.S. stocks higher Friday, as the Federal Reserve's bond-buying plan continued to bring out buyers, overshadowing muted retail sales and industrial production data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.51 points, or 0.4%, to 13593.37, its fourth-straight daily gain.

The blue-chip barometer pared earlier gains after being up as much as 113 points, but reached another multiyear closing high, with investors inspired by the Federal Reserve's additional economic stimulus announced Thursday.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 5.78 points, or 0.4%, to 1465.77. Energy and materials shares, seen as tied to global growth, led the advance. Defensive sectors such as telecommunications and utilities lagged behind.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 28.12 points, or 0.9%, to 3183.95. The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks jumped 1% to 864.70, less than one point from its all-time closing high set in April 2011.

Small-caps are seen as riskier than their large-cap peers, so the Russell 2000 is often viewed as a barometer of investors' risk appetite.

The day was heavy with data on economic and business conditions in the U.S. Retail sales for August rose 0.9% on the month, matching the median estimate of economists in a Dow Jones Newswires poll. Excluding auto sales, retail sales rose 0.8%, just shy of forecasts.

U.S. industrial production fell 1.2% in August, according to a Federal Reserve report, more than economists expected. Capacity utilization dropped to 78.2% last month from a downwardly revised 79.2% in July, also a bigger-than-forecast decline.

The Consumer Price Index for August increased 0.6%, which matched forecasts but was the largest one-month increase in the measure of inflation since June 2009. Soaring gasoline prices accounted for most of the gain. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1% versus a 0.2% estimate.

Meanwhile, consumers felt better about the economy, according to a preliminary reading of the Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index for September.

The index registered the highest reading since May, topping forecasts. Business inventories rose twice as much as economists expected in July, the biggest increase since January, the Commerce Department reported. In corporate news, shares of Fossil jumped 11%, leading the S&P 500 higher.

Hard-disk-drive maker Western Digital fell 3.6% after cutting its revenue outlook for the current quarter, partly due to muted demand.

Apple advanced 1.2% as the initial inventory of the new iPhone 5 appeared to sell out just an hour after the company began accepting preorders.

Kraft Foods slipped 0.5% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the company will no longer be a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average because of the split of its snacks and grocery businesses.

Insurer UnitedHealth Group, set to replace Kraft in the blue-chip benchmark, edged up 0.7%. Analogic surged 16% after the company reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, boosted by strength in ultrasound and security-technology sales, and provided an upbeat outlook for 2013.

Werner Enterprises slumped 7.4% after the trucking company provided a third-quarter earnings outlook that was below analyst projections as costs have been increasing faster than revenue per mile.

This week, technology giant Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and investment bank Jefferies Group Inc. (JEF) will be among a handful of major companies reporting their latest results. Also, the initial public offerings market should pick up steam with six scheduled offerings, and several housing data reports are expected to come out.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS, BONDS

European stocks closed at a 15-month high on Friday, as investors cheered the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision a day earlier to launch a third round of quantitative easing in an effort spur economic growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index jumped 1.3% to 275.95, and closed out the week with a 1.3% gain. Risk-sensitive sectors, such as banks and resource firms, led the index higher.

Heavyweight miner Rio Tinto PLC rallied 6.6%, while French bank Societe Generale SA gained 3.5%. Stocks were boosted by news late Thursday that the U.S. central bank will purchase $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month until the labor market improves.

The Federal Open Market Committee also said it would likely keep the federal funds rate near zero through at least the middle of 2015.

Among movers in Europe, mining firms posted solid gains, tracking most metals prices higher. Kazakhmys PLC surged 14%, Vedanta Resources PLC jumped 13% and BHP Billiton PLC added 6%. Oil firms were also on the rise, as oil prices temporarily topped $100 a barrel.

BP PLC rose 1.2%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC gained 0.4% and BG Group PLC advanced 3%. The gains propelled the FTSE 100 index to a 1.6% rise at 5,915.55.

On the week, the London index gained 2.1%. HSBC Holdings PLC advanced 2.9%. In France, the CAC 40 index jumped 2.3% to 3,581.58, with Credit Agricole SA up 3.4% and BNP Paribas SA rising 4.4%.

The French index added 1.8% on the week. Among German stocks, Deutsche Bank AG was among biggest gainers and rose 5.2%. Commerzbank AG gained 3.1%, helping lift the DAX 30 index 1.4% to 7,412.13. On a weekly basis, the index picked up 2.7%.

Volkswagen AG climbed 4.9%, after it said the group delivered 719,500 cars to customers world-wide in August, a 19% increase on the year. Daimler AG rose 3% and BMW AG picked up 3.4%. Spain's IBEX 35 index rallied 2.8% to 8,154.50, with Banco Santander SA up 2.5%.

Spanish stocks closed the week 3.5% higher. Outside the major indexes, Finnish mining technology firm Outotec Oyj jumped 6.5% after it said it has received several orders for the supply of technology and equipment from Chinese aluminum smelters and the related industry.

Nokia Corp. rose 4.9%, as the cellphone maker said in a statement that "poor judgment was exercised" in the making of a marketing video of its Lumia 920 Windows-based smartphone. The company was criticized earlier this month for not using its own hardware to shoot promotional video clips demonstrating the new phone's camera.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stock markets rose sharply on Friday after the U.S. Federal Reserve unveiled an open-ended bond buying plan Thursday to help the domestic economy, while the Bank of Japan gave further signals that it is concerned over the strength of the yen.

South Korea's Kospi Composite hit a five month high and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Australia's ASX 200 were trading at its highest level since early May.

Regional currencies, gold and oil also continued to climb in Asian trading in response to the bond-buying plan. The Nikkei ended the week up 3.2%, the Hang Seng Index up 4.2%, and the S&P ASX 200 1.5% higher.

Japan's Finance Minister Jun Azumi said at a press conference on Friday that he would not rule out any policy options to fight excessive moves in the yen.

In addition, traders said that the central bank carried out a rate check with several banks during New York trading hours, the first since early June.

After checking the yen exchange rate with several banks, the central bank could immediately follow with actual intervention, making it one of the strongest signals it can send.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 2123.85 in China. Japan's Nikkei added 1.8% to 9159.39 despite the strong yen, hitting a three week high, as growth-sensitive sectors - such as steelmakers, shippers and trading companies outperformed.

Steel company JFE Holdings rose 5.1%, trading company Mitsui & Co climbed 3.8%, and shipping company Nippon Yusen was 5% higher. South Korea's Kospi leapt 2.9% to 2007.58, climbing above the 2,000 point for the first time in five months, as financial companies rallied: KB Financial Group added 4.3% and Woori Finance Holdings was 6.8% higher.

In corporate news, Fortescue Metals Group called a trading halt after slumping 14% on Thursday, as the miner is in talks with lenders over debt restructuring. The company has experienced volatile trading in recent sessions, following the violent moves in the price of iron ore, its core asset; the shares have fallen 33.3% over the last month.

COMMODITIES

Base metals soared to a sharply higher close on the London Metal Exchange Friday, buoyed by in part by short-covering following news of a further stimulus injection by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

At the close of open outcry trading, LME three-month copper was up 3.8% at $8,380 a metric ton, having earlier hit its highest level since May 2 at $8,411/ton.

Tin gained the most, rising by over $1,300/ton or 6.5% to end the session at $21,675/ton. Oil futures climbed to a four-month high Friday and briefly topped $100 a barrel in the wake of the Federal Reserve's latest plan to boost the U.S. economy through bond purchases.

The Fed's announcement Thursday sent the dollar sliding against other major currencies for a second straight session, boosting the price of dollar-denominated commodities such as crude oil.

Although many traders had expected the Fed to act Thursday, the open-ended nature of the stimulus program took many market participants by surprise, prompting additional buying.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled 69 cents, or 0.7%, higher at $99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its highest finish since May 4.

Copper futures rocketed to their highest settlement in five months Friday as investors flocked to buy the industrial metal in the wake of the Federal Reserve's decision to embark on a third growth-boosting program.

The most-actively traded contract, for December delivery, rose 12.25 cents, or 3.3%, to $3.8325 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. This was the highest settlement price since April 3.

Gold futures eked out a new six-month high as optimism for demand remained strong in the wake of the Federal Reserve's newest monetary easing initiative. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, gained 60 cents to settle at $1,772.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.