Wall Street went on weekend leave on a plus note after Federal Reserve's chief Jerome Powell said in a speech on Friday that the time for interest rate cuts is here.
It's time for an adjustment of monetary policy, said the central bank chief in his speech, which he held in Jackson Hole.
However, he left unsaid how large the interest rate cuts may be and at what pace.
The timing and pace of the interest rate cuts depend on incoming data.
Investors were nonetheless satisfied with the vague message, and the broad S&P 500 index rose 1.2 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial index was up 1.1. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 1.5 percent.
The increase was broad and among the drag horses were semiconductor giant Nvidia and Tesla, which rose 4.6 percent each after falling in Thursday's trading.