Wall Street opened higher on Friday, setting major stock indexes up for a fifth week of gains, after China's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than two years to boost its cooling economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 131.46 points, or 0.74 percent, to 17,850.46, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 12.43 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,065.18 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 48.57 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,750.44.