U.S. stocks open higher with S&P 500 on pace for best week since March

U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday, extending a blistering rally despite lingering worries about the likelihood of more Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes after pausing its monetary tightening campaign for the first time in 15 months on Wednesday. The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.19%
gained 18 points, or 0.4%, to 4,444, on pace to book its best weekly advance since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.14%
rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.04%
was up 0.5%. Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller on Friday said the fallout from several bank failures in the spring is likely to continue to play a role in the central bank’s decision on how much to raise interest rates. Meanwhile, Richmond Federal Reserve president Thomas Barkin said Friday he is willing to support more rate hikes until inflation slows further, as strong consumer spending and labor market keeps upward pressure on inflation.