Investing.com - U.S. stocks jumped up on Friday on news Russian troops were set to withdraw from the Ukraine border.
At the close of U.S. trading, the Dow 30 rose 1.13%, the S&P 500 index rose 1.15%, while the NASDAQ Composite index rose 0.83%.
The Volatility S&P 500 index, which measures the outlook for market volatility, was down 5.34% at 15.77.
Reuters, citing Russia's Interfax, reported earlier that Russia had ended its military exercises near the Ukrainian border, which sent stocks surging on hopes tensions between the two countries will wane.
Fears the conflict could erupt and slow global growth have bruised stock prices in recent trading.
Elsewhere, U.S. President Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for air strikes in Iraq to halt a Sunni insurgency and protect Iraqi civilians from the uprising as well as U.S. personnel in Iraq, though events in Ukraine largely drove Friday's rally.
Still, sentiments that U.S. military action in Iraq will stay limited did add to the geopolitically-driven rally.
The Iraqi government requested assistance, which did water down stocks earlier in the session as investors avoided risk-on asset classes and camped out in safe-haven gold and yen positions.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), up 2.43%, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS), up 1.86%, and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), up 1.75%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst performers included Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), down 0.18%, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), down 0.15%, and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which was up 0.09%.
European indices, meanwhile, ended the day lower.
After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.21%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.05%, while Germany's DAX fell 0.33%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 fell 0.45%.