US stocks edge highers strong earnings prompt weekly gains

Wall Street Road

U.S. stocks rose Friday, on track to post weekly gains on the back of a strong earnings season and hopes for monetary easing.At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80 points, or 0.2%, the S&P 500 gained 13 points, or 0.3%, and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 40 points, or 0.2%. The main Wall Street indexes are on course to post weekly gains of between 1% and 2%. Cooling labor market points to rate cutsWeaker than expected jobs data have raised hope that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates later this year.