U.S. stocks opened higher Friday, following rallies in Asian and European shares, boosted by the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) surprise expansion of stimulus.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to a new all-time intraday high of 17,355.71 points, eclipsing its previous intraday record set on Sep. 19 as the blue-chip index recovered from an October swoon.
The S&P 500 also rallied above its record closing high in September but has yet to surpass its all-time intraday high, while the Nasdaq Composite Index hit a more than 14-year high.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei index closed at its highest level in seven years, as BOJ policy makers on Friday shocked market analysts by voting to increase its purchasing of Japanese government bonds from financial institutions so that their amount outstanding will increase at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen (731.28 billion dollars).
On the economic front, U.S. personal income increase 0.2 percent in September, while personal consumption expenditure fell 0.2 percent, said the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday.
Moreover, the Chicago Business Barometer rose 5.7 points to a one-year high of 66.2 in October, fuelled by gain in new orders, said the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago in a report. The figure topped market expectations.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow rallied 146.55 points, or 0.85 percent, to 17,341.97. The S&P 500 added 17.65 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,012.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 63.05 points, or 1.38 percent, to 4,629.19.
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