As a busy week winds down big bank earnings were trading higher.
Among the more attractive results expected on Friday were numbers from Dow member Charles Schwab, distribution banks Truist Financial and PNC Financial and discount brokerage Truist Financial and of the closing bell of Friday by Dow member Goldman Sachs.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 jumped 4.7% to 4,438. 26 as a wave of buying gained momentum from a day earlier when the market broke a three-day losing streak
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.6% to 34,912. The tech-rich Nasdaq jumped 17% and the Tech-heavy Nasdaq recorded 14,823. The small company stocks also notched gains. The Russell 2000 index rose to 2,274, a gain of 1.4% to 2,452 in the second quarter of 2000. The market's gains came as investors welcomed another batch of encouraging quarterly report cards from several companies. Every S&P 500 company that reported earnings so far this week has exceeded Wall Street forecasts.
Investors were also reviewing the latest data on jobs and inflation as they try to assess the economy's health and road forward.
The labor department announced last week that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped to its lowest level since the pandemic began. It's a positive sign for a job market that is still trying to recover from the initial hit with the pandemic 18 months ago. A surge of cases over the summer stunted recovery.
Businesses are still facing pressure from rising costs. Labor Department reported inflation at the wholesale level climbed 8.6% in September compared to a year ago, the largest advance since the 12 month change was first calculated in 2010.
The report came a day after the government stated inflation at consumer level rose 5.4% in September from a year ago, matching the highest rate since 2008.
Investors will receive an update on how the Commerce Department's new retail sales may affect consumer spending when it report their expected retail sales on September 29.
Bond yields kept steady. The yield on the 10 year Treasury edged up to 1.53% from 1.53% late Wednesday.
Asian shares were higher on Friday after Wall Street stocks advanced the biggest gain in 3 months since March.
Taiwan shares increased 2.4% on news that chip maker TSMC upgraded its profit outlook.
TSMC, the world's biggest chip maker, increased 4.7%. Its CEO confirmed reports it plans to open a joint venture semiconductor fabrication plant in western Japan with Sony Corp.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 517.70 points to 29,068. 63 and the Hang Seng climbed 1.4% to 25,305. In Seoul, the Kospi advance 0.9% to 3,017. The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.5% to 3,576. 45 while the Australian S&P ASX 500 ran 0.7% to 7,362. In other trading on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 68 cents to $81.99-per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped 87 cents to $81.31 per barrel on Thursday.
Brent crude, the international standard for price, added 81 cents to $84.81 per barrel.
The Japanese yen increased to 114.09 Japanese yen on Thursday for the last time a boost for the dollar was reached by 113.67 yen. The euro increased to $1.1607 from $1.1596.