New York -- U.S. stock indexes held onto strong gains Friday as oil prices turned down after a three-day run up.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in Wyoming he was encouraged by recent downward trends in commodity prices and by recent gains in the dollar.

Oil prices, headed up for three days, turned down Friday, reaching $114 after jumping above $120 per barrel Thursday.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 197.85 points, or 1.73 percent, to 11,628.06. The Nasdaq index rose 34.33 points, or 1.44 percent, to 2,414.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 14.48 points to 1,292.20, up 1.13 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,237 stocks advanced and 874 declined on a volume of 886 million shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 11/32 to yield 3.872 percent.

Against the euro, the U.S. dollar was at $1.4774 from Thursday's $1.4891. The dollar against the yen rose to 110.07, compared with Thursday's 108.55.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average lost 86.17 points to 12,666.204, off 0.68 percent.

The FTSE 100 index in London gained 126.40, up 2.35 percent, to 5,496.60.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.