US equities climb firmly higher

US equities strengthened on Friday as recent data has eased concerns about the economic outlook while also increasing confidence the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month. The Dow climbed 96.70 points or 0.2 percent to 40,659.76, the Nasdaq rose 37.22 points or 0.2 percent to 17,631.72 and the S&P 500 edged up 11.03 points or 0.2 percent to 5,554.25. For the week, the Nasdaq soared by 5.3 percent, the S&P 500 spiked by 3.9 percent and the Dow surged by 2.9 percent.