By Kristina Cooke (Reuters)

U.S. stocks soared on Friday, as strong results from Research in Motion boosted the technology sector while financial stocks rose on a report of another overseas investment in a U.S. investment bank.

All three major indexes rose more than 1 percent.

Merrill Lynch & Co Inc may get up to $5 billion in a capital infusion from Temasek Holdings, the Singapore state investor, the Wall Street Journal reported. Merrill had to write down $8.4 billion in the third quarter on assets tied to risky subprime mortgages.

Several brokerages lifted their rating or price target on shares of Research in Motion after the BlackBerry maker reported earnings that topped forecasts after Thursday's closing bell.

Investors were also heartened by a government report that showed U.S. personal spending jumped more than expected in November, suggesting consumers have not been discouraged by signs of a slowdown in the economy. In the same report, prices, excluding food and energy, rose at the pace economists had forecast.

"We've all been waiting for the Christmas rally and it seems like it has arrived," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Advisors in Boston. "RIMM had blowout earnings and guidance. Tech really has been very strong."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 154.04 points, or 1.16 percent, at 13,399.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 16.92 points, or 1.16 percent, at 1,477.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 32.93 points, or 1.25 percent, at 2,673.79.  

Research in Motion shares shot up 11.9 percent to $119.68 on the Nasdaq.

Merrill could not be immediately reached for comment. Its shares gained 1.3 percent to $55.21. Other financial-sector stalwarts also caught the wind in their sails, with Goldman Sachs up 3.2 percent at $209.07 and Morgan Stanley up 4.9 percent at $53.88.

Among consumer companies reporting results on Friday, drugstore chain Walgreen Co posted earnings that topped estimates, while consumer electronics retailer Circuit City  disclosed a wider-than-expected loss.

Walgreen shares rose 7 percent to $38.79 on the New York Stock Exchange. In contrast, Circuit City's stock plummeted 25.5 percent to 4.96 and topped the list of the NYSE's biggest percentage losers.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index of confidence showed consumers' mood improved slightly late this month, but still soured for the month as a whole.

Stock market volume was strong, in part due to the expiration of equity derivative contracts in the quarterly event known as "quadruple witching".

(Editing by James Dalgleish)