Wall Street was higher on Friday as technology stocks were lifted by an upbeat forecast from chip industry bellwether Applied Materials, while financial stocks added to gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 1.13 percent, also boosted by Microsoft and Apple. Applied Materials shares rose 12.8 percent after the company forecast a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on the back of strong demand for chips used in smartphones and solid-state drives.
The stock was also the most traded on the Nasdaq. The benchmark S&P 500 index has fallen 4.4 percent since it hit a record high on May 21 last year. At 10:48 am ET (1448 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 111.02 points, or 0.64 percent, at 17,546.42, the S&P 500 was up 15.05 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,055.09 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 58.70 points, or 1.25 percent, at 4,771.24. The gains were broad based with nine of the 10 major S&P sectors trading higher. Oil prices were marginally lower as investors cashed in recent gains and focus returned to global oversupply.