US stocks rose yesterday on bargain hunting late in the session and buying inspired by optimism about positive developments this weekend, or perhaps even the end of the war in Afghanistan.

But for the week, stocks fell, slicing the top off the autumn rally that has carried the broad market 20 per cent above three-year lows reached on September 21st. It was the largest weekly decline since the market plunged in the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.70 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 9,811.15. The Nasdaq composite added 6.66 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 1,953.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 3.69 points, or one-third of a per cent, to 1,123.07. For the week, the Dow fell 2.4 per cent and the Nasdaq dropped 3.4 per cent.

Among individual issues yesterday, McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food chain, helped support the blue-chip Dow. McDonald's sparked a rally in restaurant shares by predicting growth in 2002, even as it said fourth-quarter US. sales would fall slightly. The shares rose $1.07, or 4.16 per cent, to $26.80.