Wall Street adds to gains as financial stocks rise

By Abhiram Nandakumar

REUTERS - The S&P 500 edged into positive territory for 2016 on Friday as a gain in financial stocks added to a rally spurred by the Fed's tempered view on interest rates and rising oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average extended gains for 2016, helped by a 2.8 percent increase in Goldman Sachs.

Volumes were slightly higher than usual on account of "quadruple witching," the expiry of options on stocks and indexes as well as futures on indexes and stocks.

"Obviously, this continues to be a reaction to the Fed," said Philip Blancato, chief executive of Ladenberg Thalmann Asset Management in New York.

Blancato said the rise in oil prices and improved expectations for corporate earnings were adding to the positive momentum.

"(We've got an) accommodative Fed, slightly better earnings cycle, slightly better first-quarter economy to bounce off what was this simple correction, so it's no big deal," he said.

Crude oil rebounded to fresh 2016 highs on strong seasonal demand and hopes that major oil producers would reach a deal to freeze output.

At 11:04 a.m. ET (1504 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 111.43 points, or 0.64 percent, at 17,592.92, the S&P 500 was up 10.57 points, or 0.52 percent, at 2,051.16 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 22.19 points, or 0.46 percent, at 4,797.17.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.03 percent rise in the financials sector.

Bank of America and JPMorgan were up about 3 percent after they announced share buyback programs, giving the biggest boost to the S&P 500.

With the Fed being cautious over rate hikes, investors will now keep a close eye on global economic and financial market conditions to gauge the impact of overseas weakness on U.S. economy and earnings growth.

St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard, an FOMC voting member, is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy and monetary policy in Frankfurt at 3 p.m. ET.

Shares of Adobe were up 6.3 percent at $95.60 after the Photoshop maker raised its full-year profit and revenue forecasts above expectations. The stock gave the biggest boost to the Nasdaq.

Wynn Resorts rose 7.4 percent to $95.98 after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the stock.

Columbia Pipeline was up 5.9 percent at $24.90 after TransCanada said it would buy the company for $10.2 billion.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,996 to 875. On the Nasdaq, 1,801 issues rose and 810 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 41 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 70 new highs and 33 new lows.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)