Morning Report: US sharemarkets climbed on Friday

There was optimism over the vaccine rollout, while investors rebalanced their portfolio’s ahead of quarter-end. Energy stocks jumped 2.6% as crude oil prices rebounded. Bank shares gained 1.9% after the US Federal Reserve announced that banks could resume buybacks and raise dividends from June. The Dow Jones index rose by 453 points or 1.4%. The S&P 500 index lifted 1.7%, hitting a record closing high. And the Nasdaq index gained 161 points or 1.2%. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 1.6% and the Dow lifted 1.4%, but the Nasdaq slipped 0.6%.