U.S. stocks finished barely changed in Friday's session to cap a strong week after the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped and European leaders and central bankers redoubled efforts to tackle the sovereign-debt crisis.

U.S. Stocks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished with a loss of 0.61 point, or less than 0.1%, at 12019.42, but surged 7% this week, the biggest weekly percentage gain since July 2009.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock-index shed 0.30 point, also less than 0.1%, to 1244.28, but added 7.4% this week, the steepest weekly rise since March 2009.

The Nasdaq Composite eked out a rise of 0.73 point to 2626.93 and ended the week up 7.6%. A stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report and signs of progress were not enough to sustain a triple-digit Dow advance early in the session.

Stocks tracked a swift mid-session decline in the euro, with European bond yields also changing course midsession. Even though major indexes were little changed, more stocks rose than fell Friday.

On the New York Stock Exchange, gainers outnumbered losers by a mix of about three to two. Among Nasdaq-listed issues, winners were ahead by a ratio of five to three.

The week's stock surge, driven by central banks' infusion of cheap dollar loans into the global financial system, left both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq within roughly 1% of break-even for 2011.

The blue-chip Dow is up 3.8% for the year. Financial stocks were the strongest performers Friday. J.P. Morgan Chase led the Dow with a 6.1% gain, followed by Bank of America, which added 2%.

Among other financial gainers, Citigroup added 4.4% while Morgan Stanley rose 7% and Goldman Sachs Group climbed 3%. Utilities and health care, viewed as two of the more defensive sectors, led the S&P 500's decliners. Stocks' early gains were fueled in part by favorable U.S. employment data.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls gained 120,000 last month while the unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, fell to 8.6% in November from 9.0% the previous month, well outstripping forecasts. Previous months' tallies were revised upward.

European Stock Markets

European stocks rose Friday, as comments from the German and French leaders reinforced expectations that a credible plan to tackle the euro-zone debt crisis may be announced soon.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.9% to close at 240.73. The index gained 8.7% for the week. European stocks pared some gains Friday after news the U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in November, which was just short of expectations.

The euro-zone debt crisis stayed at the forefront of investors' minds. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Friday for quick treaty changes that would allow for closer fiscal union.

Separately, French President Nicolas Sarkozy late Thursday also advocated treaty changes and announced that he and Merkel will be meeting Monday in Paris to discuss their joint proposals ahead of the Dec. 9 summit of all 27 European Union leaders.

In addition, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted Thursday that the central bank may take a more active approach if euro-zone nations first agreed to move toward fiscal union.

The Italian and Greek indexes posted the biggest gains on the day. Greece's ASE Composite index jumped 2.9% to 690.68, with Alpha Bank AE up 2.2%.

The FTSE MIB index rose 1.5% to 15,476. Shares of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA surged 4.6% and Banco Popolare SC gained 3.2%. Shares of car maker Fiat SpA rose 2.7%. Car shares tend to be particularly sensitive to the global economic outlook.

Among French car makers, Renault SA rose 3.8% and Peugeot SA jumped 3.6% in Paris.

The French CAC 40 rose 1.1% to close at 3,164.95, with banks such as BNP Paribas SA soaring 9.4%, Societe Generale SA gaining 8% and Credit Agricole SA up 5%.

Auto shares also rose in Frankfurt, with Daimler AG up 1.7%, BMW AG up 0.8% and Volkswagen AG up 1.5%. The German DAX 30 index rose 0.7% to finish at 6,080.68, with Commerzbank AG up 10.6% and Deutsche Bank AG up 5%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended 1.2% higher at 5,552.29. Banks supported the index, with a 7.6% rise for Barclays PLC, a 3% rise for HSBC Holdings PLC and a 3.2% gain for Standard Chartered PLC.

Asia-Pacific Stock Markets

Asian stocks ended mostly higher, with banks supporting market gains in Sydney and Hong Kong, as hopes rose for strong results from the key U.S. jobs report due for release later in the global day.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5%, South Korea's Kospi was flat, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rebounded late in the session to end 0.2% higher, but the Shanghai Composite Index which closes trade an hour earlier failed to catch the updraft and ended with a 1.1% loss.

In Hong Kong, banking shares added to their large gains in the previous session on hopes of Chinese policy easing, driving the Hang Seng Index into positive territory late in the day. Bank of China jumped 4.5%, China Merchants Bank gained 2.0%, and HSBC Holdings PLC rose 1.6%.

On the downside, shares of Belle International Holdings fell 6.6% after reports said shareholder CDH Investments will sell 50 million shares of the footwear firm.

Heavyweight automakers were higher in Tokyo. Nissan Motor rose 1.1% after the automaker posted an almost 20% gain in its November U.S. sales, while Toyota Motor which posted a more modest rise in U.S. sales also added 1.1%.

Many Japanese retailers also advanced, with J. Front Retailing gaining 2.1%, and convenience-store operator Seven & I Holdings adding 2.3%. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics dropped 2.2% after Australia's top court extended a sales ban on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer for at least another week, as the Korean firm fights patent-infringement charges from Apple Inc.

Commodities
Base metals closed mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange Friday after broadly positive U.S. jobs data offset the impact of a stronger dollar.

The nonfarm payrolls data, viewed as a key indicator of the health of the world's largest economy, showed private employers continued to add jobs at a healthy pace in November, while in a separate report the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since March 2009.

LME three-month copper ended the session at $7,885 a metric ton, up 1.2% on Thursday's close. Oil futures ended slightly higher Friday after a report said the U.S. unemployment rate fell under 9%, fueling optimism over the economic recovery in the world's largest oil consumer.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled up 76 cents, or 0.8%, at $100.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded up $1.25, or 1.2%, at $110.24 a barrel. Gold futures finished a touch higher after some investors took profits on the early morning rally sparked by strong U.S. employment data. The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, settled $11.50, or 0.7%, higher at $1,751.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.