Stocks Rise, Buoyed by Hopes for Stimulus

"With the U.S. Philly Fed index having fallen into negative territory last month, today's drop in the U.S. Empire State manufacturing index, to a seven-month low of 2.3 in June from 17.1 in May, is another worrying sign that the slowdown in China and Europe is becoming a larger drag on activity at home," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economists at Capital Economics.

Dales said it's no surprise that the manufacturing sector, which is very exposed to overseas economies, appears to be struggling at a time when demand in China and the eurozone is easing.

The Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index meanwhile fell to 74.1 in June, which was weaker than the 77 that the market was expecting and the softest read going back to last December based on final reads, from 79.3 in May.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury was up 18/32, diluting the yield to 1.581%, while the dollar was falling 0.45%, according to the dollar index.

In corporate news, Dell(DELL) is the "strategic bidder" that offered to buy Quest Software (QSFT) for $2.15 billion in cash, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

PC maker Dell is the unidentified company mentioned in a statement made by Quest, which disclosed on Thursday that it had received an offer from a "strategic bidder" of $25.50 a share, Reuters said.

The reported Dell bid tops an earlier offer of nearly $2 billion from private investment firm Insight Venture Partners.

Dell shares closed down 0.3%.

The Federal Reserve said that the U.S. government bailout funding that went to American International Group(AIG) has been repaid, according to Bloomberg.

Shares of AIG on Friday were up 1.4%.

-- Written by Andrea Tse in New York.