Most regional stocks finished the week on a positive note, with YRC Worldwide climbing nearly 6 percent following a favorable earnings report.

Shares in the Overland Park-based trucker gained 38 cents to close at $6.81. The company that while it recorded a bottom line net loss, its trucking business finished in the black for the year.

Other regional gainers included Cerner, up 1.8 percent; Waddell & Reed, up 1.3 percent, and O’Reilly Automotive gained 1.5 percent.

Among the losers, Garmin fell 0.2 percent, Layne Christensen fell 0.2 percent, Kansas City Southern lost 0.1 percent.

Overall, stocks closed higher, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to the highest point since November 2007.

Trading was thin as a winter storm blanketed the Northeast with snow.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.92 points, or 0.35 percent, to close at 13,992.97.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 8.54 points at 1,517.93. The Nasdaq composite rose 28.74 points to 3,193.87..

The BATS 1000 rose 88.43 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 17,151.65.

Traders were encouraged by a 21 percent decline in the U.S. trade deficit.

Activision Blizzard, which makes “Call of Duty” and other video games, surged 11 percent after posting sharply higher earnings and revenue.

One stock fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was thinner than usual because of the storm, 2.9 billion shares versus the recent average of 3.5 billion.

Regional stocks

Capitol Federal Financial rose 3 cents, or 0.21%, to close at $11.75.

Cerner Corp. rose $1.54, or 1.78%, to close at $88.10.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. rose 9 cents, or 0.24%, to close at $38.35.

Compass Minerals rose 49 cents, or 0.66%, to close at $74.35.

DST Systems Inc. rose 72 cents, or 1.08%, to close at $67.68.

Ferrellgas Partners L.P. rose 7 cents, or 0.36%, to close at $19.42.

Garmin Ltd. fell 8 cents, or 0.21%, to close at $38.08.

Great Plains Energy rose 4 cents, or 0.18%, to close at $21.67.

H&R Block Inc. rose 31 cents, or 1.29%, to close at $24.40.

Inergy L.P. fell 22 cents, or 1.12%, to close at $19.35.

Kansas City Life Insurance Co. rose 6 cents, or 0.16%, to close at $37.67.

Kansas City Southern fell 11 cents, or 0.12%, to close at $95.09.

Layne Christensen Co. fell 5 cents, or 0.22%, to close at $22.21.

O'Reilly Automotive Inc. rose $1.53, or 1.53%, to close at $101.57.

Sprint Nextel Corp. rose 3 cents, or 0.52%, to close at $5.77.

UMB Financial Corp. rose 34 cents, or 0.77%, to close at $44.64.

Waddell & Reed Financial Corp. rose 51 cents, or 1.26%, to close at $40.90.

YRC Worldwide Inc. rose 38 cents, or 5.91%, to close at $6.81.