Stocks kicked off the session on Friday with gains following the Thanksgiving break in the United States. Equities had a mixed performance on Wednesday amid rising coronavirus infections in the country, as well as uncertainty surrounding AstraZeneca's results of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The Dow Jones started 0.13% in the green as Intel and Amegn led the gains. The S&P 500 added 0.25% with Etsy as the strongest performer. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.56%; Moderna surged over 5% to the top of the chart, continuing its post-vaccine announcement rally.