Markets Right Now: US stocks close higher on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on developments in financial markets (all times local):

4:00 p.m.

Stocks closed higher as traders responded to some encourage earnings and deal news.

Technology and health care companies rose more than the rest of the market Friday. Applied Materials jumped nearly 14 percent after reporting earnings that came in ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Interoil jumped over 37 percent after agreeing to be acquired by Oil Search.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 65 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,500. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,052. The Nasdaq composite climbed 57 points, or 1.2 percent, to 4,769.

Bond prices remained stable. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 1.85 percent.

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9:35 a.m.

Stocks are climbing in early trading as traders respond to some encourage earnings and deal news.

Banks and technology companies rose more than the rest of the market in early trading Friday. Applied Materials jumped 13 percent after reporting earnings that came in ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Interoil jumped 30 percent after agreeing to be acquired by Oil Search.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,510. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,050. The Nasdaq composite climbed 30 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,743.

The price of oil rose half a percent to $48 per barrel in New York.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.86 percent.

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11:25 a.m.

European stock markets are rebounding, a day after registering sizeable falls in the wake of a clear suggestion from the U.S. Federal Reserve that a rate increase in June is possible.

Germany's DAX is up 0.8 percent at 9,871 while the CAC-40 in France has risen 1 percent to 4,325. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares is 1.3 percent higher at 6,129.

Wall Street is also poised to register some gains at the bell with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent.

Ultimately, Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, says the fact is that "while a June hike is increasingly credible, it is still the least likely of their two options."