Commodities ended the day's trading in a positive note although oil lost 0.65 percent to close at $99 per barrel. Natural gas prices were down 1.12 percent to close at $2.99 per million metric British thermal units. Gold prices were up 1.65 percent to close at $1,566.30 per ounce. Silver prices rose 1.10 percent to settle at $27.62 per ounce. The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity index rose 0.60 percent, and the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index gained 0.14 percent.

Global Market:

The global markets closed on a positive note today, the last trading day of 2011, supported by recent upbeat U.S. data, as investors looked ahead to the New Year. Trading activity remained thin, however, heading into the New Year holiday break, and demand was tempered by lingering concerns over euro-zone debt problems. The Stoxx 600 Europe index gained 0.59 percent to close at 243.90. Germany's DAX was up by 0.85 percent, or 49.57 points to 5,898.35. France's CAC40 was up 1.03 percent or 32.25 points to close at 3,159.81. Great Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.10 percent or 5.51 points to close at 5,572.28.

In the Asian market, China's Shanghai Composite closed higher by 1.19 percent, or 25.86 points to 2,199.42. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.20 percent or 36.47 points to 18,434.39. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.67 percent or 56.46 points to close trading at 8,455.35. However, India's BSE 30 Sensex lost 0.57 percent or 89.01 points to close at 15,454.92.

Sector Scan:

The utilities sector closed Friday's trading as the worst performing sector after losing 0.53 percent during the day. Among major movers in the sector, the Ultra Utilities ETF (NYSEArca: UPW) was down 1.10 percent, or $0.62, to close at $55.65. The Dow Jones U.S. Utilities ETF (NYSEArca: IDU) lost 0.46 percent, or $0.41, to close at $88.50. Among major stocks, shares of Atlas Energy LP (NYSE: ATLS) lost 0.12 percent or $0.03 to close at $24.12. Shares of CenterPoint Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNP) were down 0.44 percent or $0.09 to close at $20.14. Shares of PNM Resources, Inc. (NYSE: PNM) fell 0.27 percent or $0.05 to close at $18.34.

Biggest Gainer and Loser Stocks:

First Security Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FSGI) followed Tegal and MoSys, to emerge as the market's best performing sector after jumping 30.21 percent, or $058, to close at $2.50.

The biggest loser of the day was Crescent Financial Bancshares (Nasdaq: CRFN), which slumped 15.60 percent, or $0.60, to close at $3.22 per share.