US stocks trade with solid gains, aiming to finish the week on a high note

Major US equity indices climbed during the opening hour of trade on Friday as investors shrugged off prospects of higher interest rates. 

The latest hawkish FOMC meeting minutes fueled bets that the Fed might opt for a faster monetary policy tightening cycle and raise interest rates more than three times in 2018, all against the backdrop of signs of rising inflationary pressure. 

The minutes sparked a sharp rally in the US Treasury bond yields, lifting the 10-year note to a fresh four-year high on Wednesday and dampened investors' appetite for riskier assets - like equities. The bond yields moderated on Thursday after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard dampened expectations of four rate hike and has been one of the key factors aiding the prevalent buoyant sentiment. 

Several Fed officials, namely - New York Fed President William Dudley and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, followed by Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Kansas City Fed President Esther George, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams, are lined up to speak on Friday. Traders will closely scrutinize their comments for more clues about the Fed's monetary policy outlook, which might eventually provide some fresh impetus.

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 150-points to 25,120 and the broader S&P 500 Index added around 16-points to 2,720. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed nearly 50-points and was placed at 7,255.