Stocks Ended with Weekly Gain

U.S. stocks on Friday closed with weekly gains, with investors hesitant ahead of the long holiday weekend that’s expected to include some resolution on another round of financial aid to Greece. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.02 points, or 0.36%, to 12,950.10, its highest close since May 19, 2008. The blue chips gained 1.2% on the week. The S&P 500 Index added 3.19 points, or 0.23%, to 1,361.23, a weekly rise of 1.4%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 8.07 points, or 0.27%, to 2,951.78, leaving it 1.7% ahead of last Friday’s close.

With gasoline rising at the pump for the first time in four months, U.S. consumer prices for January increased at the largest rate since September, the Labor Department reported Friday. The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% on the month, slightly below economists’ consensus expectations of a 0.3% increase.

Crude-oil futures rose Friday to their highest in nine months. Crude for March delivery (NMN:CLH2)  rose 93 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $103.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Demand Media Inc.’s stock soared by 31 percent Friday after the online content publisher’s fourth-quarter earnings and outlook for this year gave investors hope that it is starting to recover from diminished traffic that had stemmed from changes to Google’s Internet search formula. Demand Media said it had earnings of 8 cents per share in the most recent quarter. Revenue rose 15 percent to $84.4 million from $73.6 million. That also beat estimates of $82.5 million.

Shares of ArthroCare Corp. dropped Friday after the medical product maker reported its fourth-quarter results and forecast low sales growth in 2012. ArthroCare said it lost $29.3 million, or $1.06 per share, during the fourth quarter. Its revenue slipped to $92.4 million from $92.6 million a year ago.