Dow jumps 200 points as stocks recover following sharp sell-off on growth concerns

• Wall Street's major benchmarks advanced Friday, attempting to bounce back from sharp losses in the prior session.
• The Dow industrials and small-cap stocks were among those in recovery mode after growth concerns sparked a sell-off.
• Gold and bitcoin both fell, while oil prices climbed.

US stocks rose Friday, clawing back some of the sharp losses the market suffered in the previous session on worries that the continued spread of a coronavirus strain will cut into recovery for the global economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average charged up about 200 points at the open in the wake of its slide of 260 points on Thursday, with sectors sensitive to economic growth prospects such as financials and materials hit hard. Shares of small-cap companies, which tend to have even greater exposure to the economic outlook, also moved higher, pushing up the Russell 2000 index.

Here's where US indexes stood at 9:30 a.m. on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,340.17, up 0.45%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,612.95, up 0.55% (191.02 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 14,578.12, 0.13%

"Based on where they stand now, all of the major averages are set to finish the shortened week modestly in the red and bucking the positive seasonal trend in the process," said Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, in a note. Trading was closed Monday for Independence Day.

Stocks worldwide on Thursday dropped as investors turned their attention to rising COVID-19 cases, notably in Asia, and as officials worldwide address rising infections stemming from the Delta variant of the virus.

"I think one of the biggest risks to our global growth going forward is that we prematurely declare victory on COVID," Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, told the Financial Times in an interview published Friday.

Around the markets, Virgin Galactic will be in focus as CEO Richard Branson this Sunday will be aboard a flight on the company's space plane that will carry a crew for the first time. The venture is set to take place days before Jeff Bezos's launch.

Gold fell 0.2% to $1,798.97 per ounce. Long-dated US Treasury yields edged up, with the 10-year yield at 1.339%.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude picked up 1.2%, to $73.79. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, gained 0.6% to $74.59 per barrel .

Bitcoin slipped 0.4%, to $32,711.73.