Retailers lift U.S. stocks toward best week of the year

Big gains by retailers are lifting stocks in early trading Friday as the market heads toward its best week in more than a year. Nike soared after announcing a stock split, a dividend increase and a stock buyback program.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 179 points, or 1 percent, to 17,911 as of 10:17 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,096. The Nasdaq composite climbed 35 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,108.

RETAIL RALLY: Ross Stores gained $4.37, or 9.5 percent, to $50.57 after reporting results that were better than analysts were expecting. Gap advanced $1.38, or 5.5 percent, to $26.47 after its own quarterly report, and Urban Outfitters rose $1.03, or 4.6 percent, to $23.32.

Retail stocks were pummeled this month after weak reports from Macy's and Nordstrom caused investors to worry that the holiday shopping season would be a bust. Those fears have faded.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Dow turned positive for the year for the first time in two weeks. The S & P 500 is on pace to rise 3.5 percent this week, which would be its biggest weekly gain since October 2014.

SWOOSH: Nike said it will raise its dividend, buy back $12 billion of its own shares and split its stock. Nike, which has nearly tripled over the last five years, rose $6.50, or 5.2 percent, to $132.32.

GOING TURBO: TurboTax maker Intuit climbed after it reported strong quarterly revenue and gave a forecast for the current quarter that was better than analysts expected. The stock rose $5.54, or 5.7 percent, to $102.96.

OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent while the CAC-40 in France rose 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 index climbed 0.3 percent.

ENERGY: U.S. crude fell 33 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $40.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 45 cents, or 1 percent, to $44.63 a barrel in London.

This week U.S. crude dipped under $40 a barrel for the first time in almost three months, but it has yet to close below that psychological barrier.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.24 percent from 2.25 percent late Thursday. The euro fell to $1.0673 from $1.0731. The dollar edged up to 122.88 yen from 122.86 yen.