US stocks spike as focus shifts on soft monetary policy

US stocks surged on Friday as hopes of softening interest rates boosted the risk appetite. All major US equity indices jumped, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching their best closing levels since reaching record highs in mid-July. The Dow spiked 462.30 points or 1.1 percent to 41,175.08, the Nasdaq surged 258.44 points or 1.5 percent to 17,877.79 and the S&P added 63.97 points or 1.2 percent to 5,634.61. For the week, the Dow jumped 1.3 percent, the Nasdaq soared 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 spikedby 1.5 percent.