Stocks ended the week on a strong note as the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 348 points, or 1.4%, on Friday to finish at 25,310. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 43 points, or 1.6%, in the session to end the week at 2,747, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.8% to 7,337.

Equity investors lately have focused on the bond market and the upward move in the 10-year Treasury note yield toward 3%. Higher bond yields—which often reflect expectations of rising inflation—have been viewed negatively, so the drop in the 10-year yield by about 0.05 percentage point on Friday, to 2.87%, provided support to stocks.

For the week, the Dow industrials added about 91 points, or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%. Both indexes now have recouped more than half of what they lost during the market pullback that ended on Feb. 8. That move had left the S&P 500 about 10% below its peak of 2,873 set on Jan. 26.

(Source: Barrons Online)