After Paris, U.S. stock benchmarks up 3% for the week

Stocks jumped higher Friday and posted strong weekly gains as financial markets have largely shrugged off fears sparked by the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Investors have also been adjusting to the prospect of a interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve at its next meeting in December as Fed officials are signaling that the pace of rate hikes will be done gradually.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up about 76 points, or 0.4%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.6%.

Gains for the week:

• Nasdaq, up 3.6% (177.04 points)
• Dow, up 3.4% (578.57 points)
• S&P 500, up 3.3% (66.13 points)

Shares of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) rebounded slightly, rising 2.5% after sliding 5.7% Thursday. The nation's largest health insurer downgraded its earnings forecast and wanted that it may pull out of the Obamacare health exchanges.

UnitedHealth warns it may exit Obamacare plans

European markets were mostly higher on hopes for more stimulus from the European Central Bank.

In a speech, ECB president Mario Draghi said the bank would not hesitate” to expand its stimulus program at its next meeting in early December if needed to support the economic recovery.

Britain's FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% and Germany's DAX index gained 0.3%. France's CAC 40 was down 0.1%.

Asia markets were little changed. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.1%. The Shanghai composite index in China was up 0.3%.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Kim Hjelmgaard on Twitter: @khjelmgaard.