Traders boost bets on earlier Fed rate hike after Yellen remarks

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 3,000 to 267,000 last week, compared to expectations for a 7,000 rise.

Even though a rate hike is viewed as a negative for the stock market, investors are cheering the added clarity from Yellen, Ron Insana, host of The Market Score Board Report, said on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime” show.

United States stocks opened solidly higher after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said she still expects to raise interest rates in 2015.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 113.35 points to 16,314.67, while the broader S&P 500 index gave back 0.90 points to 1,931.34.

Gold futures for December delivery were down 0.82 percent to $1,144.3 an ounce.

Nike (NKE) paced blue-chip gains, up 9 percent after reporting results that easily beat analysts’ estimates. Nike rose $10.21, or 8.9 percent, to $125.

But Yellen, in a speech in Massachusetts late Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-chief-yellen-sets-the-stage-for-interest-rate-hike-2015-09-24), said growth internationally isn’t weak enough to have a long-term impact on USA monetary policy.

The revised-up GDP data was mainly boosted by stronger consumer spending and construction. Record low interest rates since the 2008 global financial crisis have been a boon for stocks, underpinning a bull market that has run for 61/2 years.

The Fed wants to see more Americans at work and wages rising so that inflation will move higher toward the central bank’s inflation target of 2%.

Shares in Volkswagen, which plunged early in the week before stabilizing, were up 1.5 % as its board met to find a new CEO and discuss the emissions scandal which has severely damaged the automaker’s finances and reputation. The company named Matthias Mueller, the head of the group’s Porsche unit, to be the new CEO on Friday. That sparked declines in USA equities in five out of six sessions leading up to Ms Yellen’s speech.

The laggard was the health index, down 0.46 percent. Brent Crude, a benchmark for many worldwide oils, fell 11 cents to $48.75 a barrel in London. Against the safe-haven Japanese yen, the dollar hit a two-week high of 121.12 yen, before edging down to 120.79, still up 0.6 percent on the day.