US stocks have closed higher on renewed confidence that the US Federal Reserve stimulus program will continue.

Stocks also got a lift from a bullish report on German business sentiment and from an earnings report from Dow member Hewlett Packard, which surged 12.3 per cent higher.

At the closing bell on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 119.95 (0.9 per cent) to 14,000.57.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 13.18 points (0.9 per cent) to reach 1,515.60, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 30.33 points (1.0 per cent) to 3,161.82.