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New York - Nike's announcement to hike its dividend and grant other shareholder benefits helped lift US stocks on Friday as Wall Street looked to conclude a strong week on a high note.
Dow-member Nike shot up 4.9% as it increased its dividend 14%, unveiled a new $12bn share repurchase plan and approved a two-for-one stock split.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17 880.80, up 148.05 points (0.83%). The Dow is up about 3.5% on the week.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 13.12 (0.63%) to 2 094.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 26.75 (0.53%) to 5 100.39.
Drugmakers Allergan and Pfizer advanced despite new US Treasury rules designed to discourage cross-border mergers aimed at cutting tax costs like the one being discussed between the two companies. Allergan rose 2.7% and Pfizer 0.4%.
Uninspiring earnings
Dow member Intel rose 1.6% as it lifted its dividend by 8.3%.
Teen-oriented fashion chain Abercrombie & Fitch surged 17.8% after reporting earnings that translated into 48 cents per share, well above the 22c expected by analysts. The results were a standout in a stream of mostly dull earnings reports from apparel and department stores.
Gap jumped 5.3% despite reporting a 29.3% drop in third-quarter earnings to $248m and projecting full-year earnings of $2.38-$2.42 per share, below the $2.50 per share expected by analysts. Gap shares were down more than 40% in 2015 heading into Friday's session.
Clothing discounter Ross Stores jumped 9.7% following its report that third-quarter earnings rose 11.9% to $215.7m.
