US stocks tick higher as Wall Street waits for a speech on interest rates

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are ticking higher on Friday ahead of a highly anticipated speech about where U.S. interest rates may be heading.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, coming off its fifth straight modest loss after setting an all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 273 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.