Wall Street Closes Week On Strong High

Technology and petroleum-linked shares were among the standouts on Friday as US stocks rose solidly to finish a choppy week on a positive note.

The Dow Jones gained 1.4 percent to close the week at 25,309. The S&P 500 advanced 1.6 percent to 2,747, while the Nasdaq jumped 1.8 percent to 7,337.

Worries about US interest rates have hovered over the market since the strong February 2 jobs report raised the prospect that the Federal Reserve could accelerate its pace of rate increases.

But the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond, seen as a proxy for interest rates, pulled back Friday. That helped produce what was by the far the market's best trading day of the week.

And in its semi-annual report to Congress, the Fed appeared to tamp down concerns that higher wages would boost inflation.

Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said: "Investors are in a good mood ... and the Fed's report seemed to indicate that we may not need as many rate hikes as they once thought." (AFP)