The Nasdaq, with a strong technological coloration, ended the session up 1.74% to 12,221.91 points. The Dow Jones index gained 1.26% to 33,274.15 points and the S&P 500 1.44% to 4,109.31 points.

"Financial markets continued to stabilize this week as concerns about the banking sector dissipated," Oxford Economics analysts said.

President Joe Biden on Thursday called for strengthening banking supervision by reinstating the requirement for stress tests for mid-market banks.

Investors were also encouraged by the moderation of inflation in February in the United States, to 5% year-on-year against 5.3% the previous month, according to the PCE index, favored by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

In just one month, price growth also slowed to 0.3 percent, slightly below analysts' expectations of 0.4 percent, according to the consensus released by briefing.com.

"This is good news on the inflation side, especially after the alarming acceleration in prices in January," said Chris Low of FHN Financial.

"But the market's attention will focus on employment for March which will be released next week," he warned.

Over the quarter, which in March saw a mini-bank run among regional banks and a further Fed rate hike, the broader S&P 500 index, the most representative of the market, rose 6.7% and the Nasdaq more than 16%. The Dow has returned to its level at the beginning of the year.

"The market is rebounding in particular because it has managed to pass a major test with the banking crisis. The US financial system has bent but has not broken," Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments told AFP.

According to him, "the environment is favorable for a rise in equities because many investors have remained on the sidelines" for a year and "a lot of money is not invested that is just waiting to work". "This could be the beginning of a new bull market," he said.

The only downside to the table of indicators, consumer confidence fell in March, for the first time in four months, to 62 points against 67 points in February, according to the survey of the University of Michigan.

On the value side, all sectors of the S&P ended in the green, led by consumer spending (+2.61%), real estate (+2.15%) and communication services (+2.07%).

Regional bank First Citizen, which bought the bankrupt SVB, climbed 4.21 percent to $973.10.

Department store stocks had the wind in their sails such as Macy's or Target, which gained more than 3%.

Electric vehicle maker Nikola stalled abruptly, losing 13.57% to $1.21. The manufacturer announced the day before the sale of shares for $ 100 million at a price lower than Thursday's listing, in order to build up reserves.

Tesla shares soared 6.24% to $207.46.

The company specializing in small satellite launches Virgin Orbit, struggling after the failure of a space mission, dropped more than 41% to 20 cents.

The company of British billionaire Richard Branson will lay off 85% of its employees, according to a document published on the website of the policeman of the American Stock Exchange (SEC).

In the bond market, yields on ten-year bonds eased sharply to 3.46% from 3.55% the previous day. The two-year yield slipped to 4.03% from 4.11% on Thursday.

© 2023 AFP