NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks rose for a second straight session on Friday, pushing the week into positive territory, as Treasury bond yields retreated.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, which hit multi-month highs earlier in the week amid worries over Federal Reserve monetary tightening, retreated on Friday.

Mr Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital cited a “growing sense” that the Federal Reserve was nearing the end of its rate-hiking cycle, saying “we’re within a couple of months of having the Fed finally end this tightening programme.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.2 per cent at 33,390.97.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.6 per cent to 4,045.64, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2 per cent to 11,689.01.

Friday’s gains pushed all three major indices into positive territory for the week.

Analysts also cited the Institute for Supply Management’s services index as evidence that the US economy could still achieve a “soft landing.”

February’s reading of 55.1 per cent, though slightly down from January’s level, topped estimates and easily overtook the 50 level that separates growth from contraction.

Among individual companies, Broadcom jumped 5.7 per cent after the chip company reported better-than-expected profits as it projected revenues of US$8.7 billion (S$11.7 billion) in the current quarter, about 12 per cent above the year-ago level. AFP