FEBRUARY 11, 2011, 5:28 P.M. ET.

Dow Closes at 2½-Year High

By DONNA KARDOS YESALAVICH And KRISTINA PETERSON

Stocks climbed to 2½-year closing highs after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 43.97 points, or 0.4%, to 12273.26, its highest close since June 13, 2008, and the second consecutive week of gains. The measure rose 1.5% this week and posted its strongest two-week performance since June, with a 3.8% jump over the period.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 18.99 points, or 0.7%, to 2809.44, its highest close since November 2007. It climbed 1.5% this week.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 7.28 points, or 0.6%, to 1329.15, its highest close since June 2008. It leapt 1.4% on the week.

The gains came after Mr. Mubarak succumbed to the demands of hundreds of thousands of his compatriots Friday and resigned from office.

"The market is excited about the fact that we're getting closer to a resolution," said Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial. "It just kind of lowers the blood pressure of the market a little bit."

Still, investors noted that not all the uncertainty over the situation in Egypt has been removed.

"It's still not clear who's going to be in power, what the regime's going to look like," said Don Montanaro, chairman and CEO of TradeKing. He said investors still are awaiting clarity on some of those things.

Nevertheless, Mr. Montanaro said, investors using his company's trading platform "are bullish and are more bullish than they've been for many quarters." He said more new accounts are being opened, more funds are being put into those accounts, and "we're just seeing enthusiasm gradually and steadily picking up."

Financials led Friday's ascent as mortgage insurers surged on a government proposal to shrink the size of the Federal Housing Administration, a government-run competitor to the private mortgage insurance industry. Genworth Financial jumped 4.4%, MGIC Investment surged 9.6% and PMI Group climbed 2.8%.

Nokia tumbled 14% after the handset maker said it will adopt Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform, as part of a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft. Nokia offered no projections for next year or new products, and said 2011 and 2012 are likely to be transition years. Microsoft slipped 0.9%.

Shares of Nokia fell more than 8% in preopening trade.
.Ford Motor rose 2.7% after the auto maker said it will cut its debt load by another $3 billion.

In economic data, the U.S. trade gap widened in December, with the full-year trade gap registering its biggest percentage increase in 10 years on the back of a record shortfall in trade with China.

Separately, the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment reading for February edged up to 75.1, slightly better than the 75 expected by economists.

Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@dowjones.com

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