US stocks rose on Friday on news that the European Central Bank is considering setting yield band targets in a new bond- buying program that could help contain borrowing costs for Greece, Spain and other debt-laden euro-zone countries. Further boosting investor sentiment, US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed has room to deliver additional monetary stimulus to boost the US economy. Bernanke made the comment in a letter to a congressional oversight panel.
The three major US stock indexes, which were lower to flat earlier in the session, posted sharp gains following the news, but the S&P 500 was still on track to end the week down about 0.6 percent. The S&P 500 briefly fell below the 1,400 level earlier in the morning following cautious comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Greece staying in the euro zone.
It was the first time in two weeks that the benchmark S&P 500 had dipped below 1,400. The index hasn't closed below 1,400 since the first Monday of August. It was on track for only its first weekly decline in seven. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 82.31 points, or 0.63 percent, at 13,139.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 7.71 points, or 0.55 percent, at 1,409.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 16.29 points, or 0.53 percent, at 3,069.70.