Friday's early afternoon trade: Indexes up as financial, energy stocks gain

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Friday after strong economic data boosted financial stocks and a jump in oil prices lifted shares of energy companies. JPMorgan and Bank of America rose nearly 1 percent, helping the S&P financial index gain 0.55 percent.
The top gainer on the S&P 500 was the energy index, which rose 1.2 percent, helped by advances in shares of Exxon and Schlumberger.
"It seems like fundamental backdrop is positive and that is offsetting the turmoil at the White House," Jack Ablin, chief investment officer, Cresset Wealth Advisors, Chicago. The gains come at the end of a rocky week, dominated by concerns of a trade war with China and political turmoil, which began with the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"Anything that leans towards protectionism tends to be negative headwind to the markets," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York. "As we hear more rhetoric, the more concerned we get." The three main indexes are still on track to end the week lower, with the S&P 500 posting its longest streak of losses in 2018.
At 12:30 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 24,996.84 points. The S&P 500 rose 0.35 percent to 2,756.85 points and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.08 percent at 7,487.59 points. Economic data showed US factory output jumped 1.1 percent in February.
Retailers Walmart and Home Depot gained more than 1 percent after the University of Michigan's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index rose more-than-expected to 102.0. Adobe Systems was up 3 percent after the Photoshop maker topped analysts' profit and revenue estimates for the seventh straight quarter.
Micron Technology rose 2.2 percent after Baird analysts raised price target on the stock by $40 to $100 and Western Digital gained 3.5 percent after an upgrade to "outperform".