Buoyed by stocks in Europe and a smart rally in oil and other commodities, U.S. stocks were trading near the day's highs going into the noon hour Friday.
An upbeat retail report for January also gave stocks a boost.
The Nasdaq rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.6%. Volume was tracking lighter than the same time Thursday in the stock market today.
West Texas intermediate futures for March delivery rose as much as 11% to $29.13. News reports cited continued speculation that the big producers will cut production to raise prices.
Bonds fell, lifting the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 1.73%.
The FTSE 100 rose 3%, the German DAX index gained 2.2% and the Paris CAC 40 rose 2.3%.
The big banks had a good day after an SEC filing showed that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon bought $26 million in stock of his own company.
JPMorgan shares rose 8%, boosting the Dow by 30 points.
Also, German banker Deutsche Bank (DB) announced it would buy back $5.4 billion in senior unsecured debt in a move to bolster investor confidence. Deutsche Bank stock was up 11%.
The money center bank industry group rose was up 4%, one of the better performers in IBD's 197-group list.