U.S. stocks open higher on Yellen speech, GDP data

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Friday, as investors digested U.S. Federal Chair Janet Yellen' s speech and the second revision for second-quarter U.S. GDP data.

In Thursday' s speech after the closing bell at the University of Massachusetts, Yellen said that she anticipated a rate hike in the coming months, easing concerns about slowing global growth.

"Most FOMC participants, including myself, currently anticipate that achieving these conditions will likely entail an initial increase in the federal funds rate later this year, followed by a gradual pace of tightening thereafter," said Yellen.

"She sounded sort of hawkish," said Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director at Deep Value, Friday.

On the economic front, real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015, according to the "third" estimate released by the U.S. Commerce Department Friday.

The revised-up GDP data was mainly boosted by stronger consumer spending and construction.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 186.61 points, or 1.15 percent, to 16,387.93. The S&P 500 rose 16.01 points, or 0.83 percent, to 1,948.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 45.29 points, or 0.96 percent, to 4,779.77.

U.S. stocks declined for the third straight session Thursday, as investors digested a batch of mixed economic reports ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech. Endi