NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rose strongly on Friday amidst a widening belief that the Federal Reserve will soon begin cutting interest rates.

"All this week has been the Federal Reserve's influence," Mark Kepner, equity trader at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey told the Reuters news agency, before adding a note of caution. "At the position we're at here, we could see ourselves declining a bit if earnings are not that good," he said.

Each of the major indices hit a record high.

At the close of trading Friday, the Dow Jones industrials were ahead 243.95 points or 0.90% at 27,332.03.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 13.86 points or 0.46% to 3,013.77.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite appreciated by 48.10 points or 0.59% to 8,244.14.

On foreign exchange markets the U.S. dollar continued to lose ground for the same reason stocks were moving higher.

Around the close in New York on Friday the euro was being bid at 1.1270. The British pound rose to 1.2572. The Japanese yen strengthened to 107.84.

The Swiss franc was stronger at 0.9844. The Canadian dollar climbed to 1.3035.

The Australian dollar hurdled the crucial 0.7000 handle, to comfortably trade at 0.7020 by the close.

The New Zealand dollar spiked higher, it was last quoted at 0.6695.

In overseas equity markets, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.05%. The German Dax slid 0.07%. The CAC 40 in Paris however, gained 0.38%.

In Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 42.37 points or 0.20% to 21,685.90.

China's Shanghai Composite gained 12.79 points or 0.44% to 2,930.55.

The Australian All Ords, going against the trend, fell 17.00 points or 0.25% to 6,788.80.