New York  - The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a high for the year on Friday as Wall Street continued to be optimistic about upcoming earnings reports.

The Dow gained 78.07 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 9,864.94. It was up 4 per cent for the week.

US companies began reporting third-quarter earnings this week, with aluminium giant Alcoa recording profits after three-straight quarters of losses. More earnings figures are due out next week, including those for large financial firms like Bank of America and Citigroup.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.01 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,071.49. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 15.35 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 2,139.28. The S&P gained 4.5 per cent on the week and the Nasdaq increased 4 per cent.

The US currency rose to 67.93 euro cents from 67.6 euro cents on Thursday. The dollar was up against the Japanese currency to 89.81 yen from 88.38 yen.  dpa