NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks rose in early trading Friday with the Dow briefly climbing above the 35,000 mark as equities appear headed for a positive end to an unpredictable week of trading. The week got off to a rocky start Monday which was the worst day for indices in 2021, but they have risen since then as traders apparently decided the fast-spreading Delta variant of Covid-19 will not imperil the US economic recovery.

That sentiment has been aided by generally positive results from major companies, as well as a stabilization in the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, which was just under 1.3 percent.

"The stock market seems to be comforted by today's direction, seeing it as a basis to temper its slowdown concerns and to embrace a risk-on trading approach," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.

About 25 minutes into trading, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent at 34,928.08. The broad-based S&P 500 also gained 0.3 percent to 4,382.05, and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was 0.2 percent higher at 14,717.41.

This week saw three of the four major US airlines reporting second-quarter profits even with travel still lagging pre-pandemic levels. Next week will see several major data releases including second quarter GDP and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure.

The Fed also is set to hold its two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday. While no major changes are expected, the central bank may give hints about the approach to rising inflation and whether officials are ready to relax asset purchases.