U.S. stocks inch higher after a big two-day rally

NEW YORK - Oil and gas companies led the stock market up Friday, helping the Standard & Poor's 500 index notch its second-best week this year.

With little news to give them direction, traders continued to push indexes higher. That extended a rally from Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve said it was in no hurry to raise interest rates.

"What a very crazy week," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ.

Benchmark U.S. crude bounced up from recent lows, climbing $2.36 to settle at $56.52 a barrel in New York, as traders bet that a six-month plunge in prices had gone too far. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $2.11 to close at $61.38 in London. Chevron, Denbury Resources, and other energy companies led nine of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 to gains.

The S&P 500 gained 9.42 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,070.65, bringing its weekly gain to 3.4 percent.

The Nasdaq composite picked up 16.98 points, or 0.36 percent, to 4,765.38, and the Dow Jones industrial average rose 26.65 points, or 0.15 percent, to 17,804.80.

U.S. government bond prices rose, nudging yields down. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.16 percent.

In the commodity markets, gold edged up $1.20 to $1,196 an ounce, while silver added 10 cents to $16.03 an ounce. Copper rose 3 cents to $2.88 a pound.