US close: Stocks record solid gains following week of heavy losses

US stocks closed markedly higher on Friday following the Dow’s worst day since Black Monday in 1987 in the previous session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 9.36% at 23,185.62, while the S&P 500 was ahead 9.29% at 2,711.02 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 9.35% firmer at 7,874.88.

The Dow closed 1,985.00 points higher on Friday after seeing out the previous session sharply lower, with trading ending in misery as consternation around the global COVID-19 pandemic raged on.

S&P 500 futures hit "limit up" in pre-market trading on Friday, just 24 hours after hitting "limit down" in the previous session which resulted in a 15-minute halt to trading.

Sentiment was boosted after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republicans and Democrats were close to reaching a deal on an economic relief package aimed at helping lessen some of the damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

"We've resolved most of our differences," said Pelosi.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed that the White House and Congress were close to striking a deal. "The president is absolutely committed that this will be an entire government effort, that we will be working with the House and Senate," Mnuchin said.

On the macro front, prices for foreign-made goods imported to the US decreased in February, led by lower prices for petroleum, according to the Labor Department.

Import prices were down 0.5% month-on-month in February, ahead of the 0.8% decline expected by economists, while prices for petroleum imports decreased 7.6%.

Export prices fell 1.1% in February, the largest monthly decline since December 2015.

Elsewhere, the spreading coronavirus and big falls in stock market prices weighed on US consumer sentiment at the start of the month, the results of the most closely-watched survey showed.

However, there were no signs of "economic panic" as during the Great Recession, said Richard Curting, the survey's chief economist. "Perhaps the most important factor limiting consumers' initial reactions is that the pandemic is widely regarded as a temporary event," he said.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell from 101.0 at the end of February to 95.9 in early March. Economists had pencilled-in a reading of 96.4.

No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Friday.