U.S. stocks rose on Friday with the Dow hitting another record high the third straight day, on reports of a strong rally in the Asia market.

In the closing trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 153.35, or 1.20 percent, to 12,961.98, above 12,900 the first time. The S&P 500 index up 13.62, or 0.93 percent, to 1,484.35, and the Nasdaq rose 21.04, or 0.84 percent, to 2,526.39.

Asia stock market rallied sharply on Friday, after tumbling on Thursday. The benchmark Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 3,584.17 points, up 135.15 points from the previous close. Hong Kong stock surged 266.88 points, or 1.32 percent, to close at 20,566.59 on Friday.

On corporate news, Google reported a 69 percent jump in profit and earnings per share that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, as Caterpillar reported that its first-quarter net income topped analysts' estimates.

Source: Xinhua