Wall Street bounced back on Friday after three straight days of losses, following a positive update from Pfizer on development of its COVID-19 vaccine and on data that showed stronger-than-expected retail sales growth last month.

The drugmaker's shares firmed 2.4 percent as it expects to provide safety data and file for authorization of the vaccine it is developing with Germany's BioNTech SE, as soon as a safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November.

BioNTech's U.S.-listed shares jumped 1.8 percent.

Latest data showed US retail sales increased more than expected in September, though recovery from the recession is at a crossroads as government money runs out and new COVID-19 infections surge across the country.

The University of Michigan's preliminary index on consumer sentiment for October came in at 81.2, ahead of the 80.5 forecast.

"Amid a stagnating labor market, the jump in retail sales this month suggests consumer strength is pretty robust," said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial LLC in Jersey City.

"While a resilient consumer is a broad positive for the recovery, today's results could reduce the pressure on lawmakers to get any stimulus measure through before the election."

Trading on Wall Street this week has been dictated by news about more federal aid to help businesses and households reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the S&P 500 on track for its smallest weekly gains in three.

President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden will return to the campaign trail with visits to three battleground states, a day after the two contenders clashed from afar during dueling televised town halls.

Meanwhile, after a mixed start to the third-quarter earnings season from the big Wall Street lenders, investors will look next week to results from Netflix Inc, one of the technology mega-caps that have benefited from stay-at-home demand during the pandemic.

Analysts' expectations for S&P 500 companies' earnings have improved to an 18.8 percent fall from a 25 percent tumble forecast three months earlier.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors rose. Energy and real estate indexes were the only ones in negative territory.

At 11:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 255.40 points, or 0.90 percent, at 28,749.60, the S&P 500 was up 18.31 points, or 0.53 percent, at 3,501.65. The Nasdaq Composite was up 28.56 points, or 0.24 percent, at 11,742.43.

Kansas City Southern shed 2.3 percent as the railroad operator's quarterly revenue missed estimates, while transportation and logistics company J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc tumbled 8.1 percent after it missed profit estimates.

The Dow Jones Transport index fell 1 percent.

Schlumberger slid 7.1 percent after the top oilfield services provider reported a third straight quarterly loss, pulling the S&P energy index down 0.5 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.26-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 49 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and 12 new lows.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76.52 points, or 0.27 percent, at the open to 28,570.72.

Note: This article has been updated to incorporate latest developments.

First Published:Oct 16, 2020 9:25 PM IST