Wall Street was higher in afternoon trading on Friday, with the Nasdaq poised to close higher for the first time this week, as healthcare and technology stocks rebounded, and as data pointed to a pick up in economic activity. A majority of the 10 major S&P indexes were higher, with both the health and tech indexes moving up after two days of losses. The Nasdaq biotech index was up 2.6 percent, ending a 5-day losing streak.
Apple gave the biggest boost to the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 with a 1.2 percent increase to $126.66. Gilead rose 5.4 percent to $105.94 after its quarterly profit nearly doubled. Investors were also buoyed by an encouraging batch of data for April that suggested the economy was pulling out of a first-quarter soft patch.
At 13:39 pm EDT (1739 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 128.08 points, or 0.72 percent, at 17,968.6, the S&P 500 was up 15.29 points, or 0.73 percent, at 2,100.8 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 37.52 points, or 0.76 percent, at 4,978.94. If the gains hold, all three indexes are on track for their best day since April 20. Still, the three are headed to close lower for the week.