Stocks rallied in the final hours of trading for the year as a budget deal appeared to be taking shape in Washington.
Greece's former finance minister is at the center of an escalating political scandal after three of his relatives were allegedly found missing from a list of Greeks with Swiss banks accounts that authorities are using to investigate possible tax evasion.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met the demands of his restive party by replacing his finance minister Friday in a broad cabinet reshuffle that won strong support from markets, optimistic that crucial austerity measures will now be passed.
Greek unions are planning protest marches in the northern city of Thessaloniki against the debt-plagued country's harsh austerity program, before Prime Minister George Papandreou's keynote speech on the economy Saturday.
