Sharemarkets in North America and Europe all ended the pre-Christmas trading period on cheery note for investors.

Stocks on Wall Street rose to new highs for the year on as a bigger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims heartened investors.

Canadian stocks made their biggest weekly gain in nearly two months while in Europe the British and French markets closed at new highs for the year.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher for the fourth successive sessions, rising 1.9% for the week. It gained 53.66 points, or 0.5%, to close on Christmas Eve at 10,520.10, its highest since October 2008.

Alcoa and DuPont were among the Dow's strongest components. Alcoa climbed 2.1%, while DuPont rose 1.1%. Travelers was also strong, up 1.6%, while United Technologies gained 1.2%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7% to 2285.69 and the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to 1126.48, led by its materials and technology sectors.

Canadian stocks rose for a fourth day. Bank of Nova Scotia gained 1.4% and Suncor Energy climbed 1.5% as oil rallied. Goldcorp added 1.4% as the US dollar fell against the euro for a second day.

The S&P TSX Composite Index rose 95.91 points, or 0.8%, to a three-week high of 11,754.61, a 2.5% gain for the week.

European shares posted mild gains. Markets were closed on Christmas Eve in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and Spain. The French and UK markets posted new highs ahead for 2009.

The French CAC-40 Index closed up 0.1% at 3,912.73 – its highest finish in 14 months. The UK FTSE 100 Index closed at a 15-month high of 5402.41, a gain of 0.6%.

Commodities: Oil, gold up

Crude oil futures extended their gains to a fresh three-week high, supported by positive equity markets, a weaker dollar and recent declines in US oil stocks.

The February delivery contract settled $US1.38, or 1.8%, higher at $US78.05 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled 86USc, or 1.1%, higher at $US76.31 a barrel.

Gold rose the most in a week as a drop in the dollar spurred demand. Silver, platinum and palladium also gained.

Gold futures for February delivery gained $US10.80, or 1%, to $US1104.80 an ounce in New York, the biggest advance since December 16.

Currencies: Dollar down

The US dollar ended lower against the euro, continuing its recent retreat but trimming its losses after better-than-expected jobs data helped restore confidence in the US recovery.

The dollar, which rallied broadly earlier in the month, gained modestly against the UK pound and ended little changed against the yen and the Canadian dollar.

The euro was at $US1.4359 from $US1.4325. The dollar was at ¥91.62 from ¥91.68, while the euro was at ¥131.50 from ¥131.33.

The UK pound was at $US1.5949 from $US1.5958.

Canada’s currency declined 0.2% to $C1.0507 per US dollar, compared with $C1.0487.

Canada’s currency traded near the strongest level against its U.S. counterpart in almost three weeks as global stocks and commodities including crude oil, the nation’s biggest export, advanced.

The Canadian dollar rose against all 16 of the most-traded currencies, including those of New Zealand and Australia.