The Dow Jones rose 65.67 points, or 0.6 percent, to 10.471.50, helped by a surge by Alcoa, which was up 8.2 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than a point, closing down 0.55 or 0.03 percent, at 2,195.31, and the Standard & Poor 500 was up 4.06, or 0.37 percent, at 1,106.41.
Treasury prices fell. The 10-year note was down 8/32 to yield 3.531 percent.
Crude oil futures dropped to a two-month low. Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled 67 cents, or 1 percent lower, at $69.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures have now dropped for eight consecutive sessions, shedding 11 percent of their value.
The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose an unexpected 1.3 percent last month, better than the 0.7 percent forecast by economists, good news for the coming holidays and helping to lift the dollar, which saw its index rise 0.7 percent.
Sales also rose compared with November 2008, up 1.9 percent, although the figure may not impress many given last year's sales slump.
The euro fell to $1.461 from Thursday's $1.473. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 89.37 yen from Thursday's 88.21 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 2.48 percent, 245.05, to 10,107.87.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.33 percent, 17.20, to 5,261.57.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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