* November retail sales rise
* Pending home sales surge
* Goldman Sachs sees S&P 500 at 1,450 by end of 2011
* Dow up 0.7 pct, S&P up 0.7 pct, Nasdaq up 0.6 pct
* for up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates to morning trading)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Thursday after upbeat data on housing and retail sales and as European officials extended a liquidity safety net for vulnerable banks, soothing investor anxiety about the region's debt crisis.
U.S. retailers reported higher-than-forecast sales for November, while pending home sales unexpectedly surged in October, hinting the economic recovery has legs. Also, the four-week moving average for jobless claims fell to a fresh two-year low, though new claims were higher for the week. For details, see [ID:nN02149928]
"Fear is evaporating ever so slightly. The economy is not falling off a cliff, giving investors a glimmer of hope," said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 74.73 points, or 0.66 percent, to 11,330.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 8.96 points, or 0.74 percent, to 1,215.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 16.07 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,565.50.
Financial shares led gains, with the KBW bank index <.BKX>
up 3.1 percent. Wells Fargo & Co
"The ECB and Federal Reserve have implied they are not going to let that segment fail," said Forrest. "They are allowing years for banks to work out the problems that they are in."
Further supporting stocks, the euro rose against the U.S. dollar on talk the European Central Bank had been buying government bonds of so-called peripheral euro-zone nations. The euro has recently traded in the same direction as U.S. equities. [USD/]
The Dow and the S&P 500 scored their biggest gains in three months on Wednesday as optimism over efforts to resolve the EU's debt crisis helped push the S&P above 1,200.
If the S&P 500 continues to hold above that level, the market uptrend will see strong resistance at 1,225-1,230, which coincides with a recent two-year high and the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the benchmark's slide from October 2007 to March 2009, a key technical indicator.
Goldman Sachs forecast on Thursday that the S&P 500 will close 2011 at 1,450, boosted by positive earnings amid a steadily improving U.S. economy. It also upgraded the financials, energy and consumer discretionary sectors.
U.S. President Barack Obama's top economic advisers were to resume negotiations Thursday with congressional leaders, hoping to break a deadlock over expiring tax cuts. [ID:nN01129519]
In company news, PepsiCo Inc
American International Group Inc