* World stocks edge up, best week in a month
* Crude oil edged up ahead of OPEC meeting
* U.S. dollar firmer, U.S. bonds rise
(Updates to New York close)
By Nick Olivari
NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher in
thin trade on Friday, as investors eyed retail sales on the
first day of the shopping season after the Thanksgiving Day
holiday, to gauge the extent of weakening consumer demand.
Earlier European and Asian shares also ended higher,
despite the attacks in Mumbai, India, this week, while U.S.
Treasury debt prices and the U.S. dollar both gained as
investors continued to look for safe-havens as global economic
growth slows.
"It's a light volume day so you're going to see some choppy
trading, with so many people out," said Robert Finkel, consumer
trader at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore of the U.S. stock
market.
"I'm watching how things go from a retail standpoint today
- we've heard a lot of speculation about how bad it's going to
be, now we'll get some proper feedback."
The U.S. holiday weekend will test the strength of
consumer sentiment, a main driver of the U.S. economy, as the
country faces its worst financial crisis since the Great
Depression. If the U.S. consumer fails to buy, companies across
the globe can expect to see fewer exports and profits.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 96.54 points,
or 1.11 percent, to 8,823.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> ended up 8.06 points, or 0.91 percent, at 895.74. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 3.47 points, or 0.23
percent, at 1,535.57.
The S&P's retail sector index <.RLX> ended down 1.62 percent
at 262.75 on Friday, but was up 17 percent for the week.
The U.S. stock market closed early on Friday, after the
Thanksgiving Day holiday Thursday, but the benchmark S&P500
index ended the week up 12.03 percent, after falling to its
lowest level in a decade last week.
OPEC MEETS
U.S. light crude for January delivery <CLc1> edged up to
$55.25 a barrel, after falling to a three year low last week.
OPEC ministers are meeting in Cairo to discuss potential
further supply cuts to combat a global fall in demand .
Indian stocks ended higher despite the attacks in Mumbai,
but India's 10-year bond yield fell to its lowest level in
three years on expectations that the attacks will an impetus to
central bank interest rate cuts.
Globally, the MSCI all-country world index <.MIWD00000PUS>
ended up 0.73 percent at 219.77, and has gained more than 10
percent this week, the first weekly gain in four weeks.
"On a range of measures, there is undoubted value to be
found in many of the world's equity markets," said Sarah Arkle,
chief investment officer with Threadneedle Asset Management.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> was up 0.68
percent, as buoyant pharmaceutical shares eclipsed a drop in
cyclical mining and industrial sectors.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei average <> climbed 1.7 percent
to close out its best week in a month.
The U.S. dollar regained traction against major currencies
after slipping earlier this week. The euro lost 1.8 percent to
$1.2656 <EUR=>. The dollar was flat at 95.36 yen <JPY=>.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> traded higher
in price for a yield of 2.9673 percent. The benchmark yield
fell to as low as 2.82 percent on Friday, according to Reuters
data, marking the lowest in at least five decades.
Overall, benchmark yields are on track for the biggest
monthly fall in at least 12 years, according to Reuters data,
as investors have stampeded into lower-risk investments on
signs of ever-deepening economic distress. The 10-year yield
has shed more than a full percentage point since the end of
October.
Euro zone government bonds rose, reflecting concern about
the economy and expectations of interest rate cuts. Two-year
Schatz yields <EU2YT=RR> were last down 3 basis points to 2.202
percent.
(Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke, Chris Reese and
Vivianne Rodrigues in New York, and Jeremy Gaunt in London)
(Reporting by Nick Olivari)
