GLOBAL MARKETS-World stocks rise in thin trade, bond yields fall

* World stocks edge up, best week in a month

* Crude oil edged up ahead of OPEC meeting

* U.S. dollar firmer, U.S. bonds rise

(Updates to New York close)

By Nick Olivari

NEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher in thin trade on Friday, as investors eyed retail sales on the first day of the shopping season after the Thanksgiving Day holiday, to gauge the extent of weakening consumer demand.

Earlier European and Asian shares also ended higher, despite the attacks in Mumbai, India, this week, while U.S. Treasury debt prices and the U.S. dollar both gained as investors continued to look for safe-havens as global economic growth slows.

"It's a light volume day so you're going to see some choppy trading, with so many people out," said Robert Finkel, consumer trader at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore of the U.S. stock market.

"I'm watching how things go from a retail standpoint today - we've heard a lot of speculation about how bad it's going to be, now we'll get some proper feedback."

The U.S. holiday weekend will test the strength of consumer sentiment, a main driver of the U.S. economy, as the country faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. If the U.S. consumer fails to buy, companies across the globe can expect to see fewer exports and profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 96.54 points, or 1.11 percent, to 8,823.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX ended up 8.06 points, or 0.91 percent, at 895.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 3.47 points, or 0.23 percent, at 1,535.57.

The S&P's retail sector index .RLX ended down 1.62 percent at 262.75 on Friday, but was up 17 percent for the week.

The U.S. stock market closed early on Friday, after the Thanksgiving Day holiday Thursday, but the benchmark S&P500 index ended the week up 12.03 percent, after falling to its lowest level in a decade last week.

OPEC MEETS

U.S. light crude for January delivery CLc1 edged up to $55.25 a barrel, after falling to a three year low last week. OPEC ministers are meeting in Cairo to discuss potential further supply cuts to combat a global fall in demand .

Indian stocks ended higher despite the attacks in Mumbai, but India's 10-year bond yield fell to its lowest level in three years on expectations that the attacks will an impetus to central bank interest rate cuts.