Stocks end higher in pre-holiday session


November 21, 2012 at 4:42p.m.

Stocks end higher in pre-holiday session

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are finishing higher in a quiet pre-Thanksgiving trading session.

The Dow Jones industrial average ends the day up 48 points at 12,837. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose three to 1,391. And the Nasdaq composite index finishes the day up almost 10 points at 2,926.

Stocks got a small lift after news broke of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Farm equipment company Deere lost 3.7 percent after an earnings report that missed Wall Street expectations. And jeweler Zale lost 30 percent after reporting a loss that was worse than analysts expected.

Advancing stocks beat decliners by about 2-to-1. Volume was light, about 2.5 billion shares.

The stock market is closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.