New York  - Winning listings outnumbered losers by nearly seven to one on Friday, led by financial shares after the government announced late Thursday that top US banks had overall stronger balance sheets than widely believed.

A slowing rate of job losses helped spur broad gains on Wall Street.

The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index soared 21.84 points, or 2.41 per cent, to 929.23, finishing the week higher for the eighth time in nine weeks. The index was up 5.9 per cent for the week and is now in positive territory for 2009.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 164.8 points, or 1.96 per cent, to 8,574.65. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 22.76 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 1,739.

The US currency plummeted against the euro to 73.343 euro cents from 74.71 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar slipped against the Japanese currency to 98.469 yen from 99.07 on Thursday. (dpa)