U.S. stocks rose on Friday on strength from Caterpillar and other industrials, lifting the Dow and Nasdaq to their best monthly performance since December.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 47.23 points, or 0.37 percent, to end unofficially at 12,810.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 3.13 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,363.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 1.01 points, or 0.04 percent, to close unofficially at 2,873.54.

For the week, the Dow is up 2.4 percent, the S&P 500 is up 2 percent and the Nasdaq is up 1.9 percent.

For the month of April, the Dow is up 4 percent, the S&P 500 is up 2.8 percent and the Nasdaq is up 3.3 percent.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Jan Paschal)