S&P 500 extends rally into third straight day on Friday

• Wall Street's main indexes opened in the positive territory.
• S&P 500 Index is trading at its highest level since early September.
• Energy shares trade in the negative territory amid falling crude oil prices.

After closing the previous two days in the positive territory, major equity indexes in the US started the last day of the week higher. As of writing, the S&P 500 was at its highest level since early September at 3,466, rising 0.57% on a daily basis. Additionally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite are up 0.55% and 0.73%, respectively.

Rising hopes for US lawmakers coming to terms on standalone coronavirus relief bills seem to be allowing risk flows to continue to dominate financial markets on Friday. Reflecting the upbeat market mood, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is down 3% on the day.

Among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors, the risk-sensitive Technology Index and the Materials Index both gain more than 0.7%. On the other hand, the Energy Index is down 0.4% pressured by a 0.5% decline in US crude oil prices.

S&P 500 chart (daily)