NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Dow Jones industrial average logged its eighth straight weekly win Friday even as stocks ended the day lower, while all three major U.S. indexes wrapped up November by notching a second straight month of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 35.59 to 8896.09, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 index (SPX.X: Research, Estimates) and the Nasdaq composite (down 9.16 to 1478.78, Charts) all closed modestly lower. But for the holiday-shortened week, the Dow rose 1.0 percent, the Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent, and the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent.

Looking at the market's monthly performance, the Dow gained 5.9 percent, while the Nasdaq surged 11.2 percent, the third-best advance ever for the tech-heavy index. The S&P climbed 5.8 percent.

The S&P's gains in October and November are the first back-to-back increases for the broader market this year. The Dow registered its first two straight months of gains since February and March of 2002. The Dow's last eight-week rally streak occurred in 1998. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also are up six of the last seven weeks.

A raft of positive economic data Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, ignited a strong mid-week rally for stocks and appeared to fortify investor optimism over an economic recovery and growth in corporate profits, and took the Dow to within striking distance of 9,000. The Dow rose nearly 3 percent Wednesday, its largest one-day ever on the eve of Thanksgiving.

"The surprising improvements in the latest employment, manufacturing and durable goods data Wednesday, all leading indicators, put the ingredients in place for the market to maintain an upward bias," said Ned Riley, stock market strategist with State Street Global Advisors.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange decliners narrowly edged advancers as 532 million shares were traded. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 16 to 15 as 725 million shares changed hands.

Stocks meandered in a tight range for most of the abbreviated session on light volume; the trading day ended at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Another factor in the day's trading was the "Black Friday" distraction. Many investors are expected to be out shopping on what is usually one of the busiest sales days of the year for retailers. The day after Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and many retailers count on sales on this day to seal their profitability for the entire year.

"Because of the big gains we had Wednesday, today was expected to be a little anti-climactic," Charles Payne, market strategist with Wall Street Strategies, told CNNfn's Street Sweep. "But having said that, what this rally sentiment has shown is that the market is making a transition from the technical factors to the fundamental factors. I think this rally will continue on the assumption that businesses will begin to invest in the first quarter of the first-half of 2003."

Looking ahead to next week, technology, key reads on manufacturing activity and the labor market dominate the docket of economic reports.

The Institute for Supply Management's November data on manufacturing activity, to be released Monday, is expected to show a rise to 49.5 from 48.5 the previous month. On the corporate front, Cisco Systems' analysts conference also is scheduled for Monday.

Intel (INTC: down $0.02 to $20.88, Research, Estimates) mid-quarter update takes place Thursday, while the unemployment rate for November, due out Friday, is expected to creep up to 5.8 percent from 5.7 percent the previous month.

UAL (UAL: down $1.12 to $2.51, Research, Estimates) fell sharply after its mechanics rejected their part of a $1.5 billion package of wage concessions to keep the company out of bankruptcy and qualify it for nearly $2 billion in federal loan guarantees. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded UAL's debt on the news.

Shares of Dow component Honeywell (HON: up $1.57 to $26.01, Research, Estimates), which has exposure to asbestos-related claims, stood out among the Dow gainers. Honeywell rose on news that Sealed Air (SEE: up $13.33 to $37.81, Research, Estimates), the maker of Bubble Wrap and other specialty packaging products, agreed to settle all asbestos-related claims against the company for $512.5 million in cash and more than $300 million in stock. Salomon Smith Barney called the news "positive" for the company and said terms of the settlement fell well below its estimates.

Among technology issues, Sun Microsystems (SUNW: up $0.32 to $4.29, Research, Estimates) benefited from comments out of Lehman Brothers, which said that although demand for servers remains slack, it's not getting any worse. Sun on Tuesday reaffirmed its second-quarter revenue forecast but said gross margins would fall amid rising expenses.

European markets were lower, while Asian-Pacific stocks closed mostly higher Friday.

Treasury prices rose, with the yield on the 10-year note at 4.23 percent. The dollar was up slightly against both the yen and the euro.

Light crude oil futures rose 49 cents to $26.89 a barrel in U.S. trading.