U.S. markets to close early Friday

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U.S. financial markets will be open for only a half day of trading on Friday, as usual on the day after Thanksgiving.

Stock markets will close at 10 a.m. PST. Bond markets will close at 11 a.m. PST.

The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 150.91 points, or 1.4%, to 11,187.28 on Wednesday, boosted by some upbeat economic data.

The Dow is off 2.2% from its recent two-year closing high of 11,444.08 reached on Nov. 5.

U.S. stocks in general have held up far better than European and Asian markets in recent weeks, with the former hit by fears about escalating government-debt issues and the latter weighed down by worries about China’s economy and renewed tensions between North and South Korea.

-- Tom Petruno