US equity indexes rose after midday Friday, clawing back from earlier declines, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated policymakers can still afford to wait for more clarity on a host of government policies, while noting that the rate-setting committee will take action if required.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% to 18,104.3, the S&P 500 climbed 0.2% to 5,747.6, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3% higher at 42,686.8. All three indexes were trading lower earlier in the session. Energy and utilities led the gainers intraday, while consumer discretionary and financials were among the decliners.

Powell reminded investors that monetary policy is "not on a preset" path and is well-positioned to act as needed. Trade tariffs will likely impact prices in some sectors, but their effect down the line is uncertain.

"If the economy remains strong, but inflation does not continue to move sustainably toward 2%, we can maintain policy restraint for longer," Powell said. "If the labor market were to weaken unexpectedly or inflation were to fall more quickly than anticipated, we can ease policy accordingly."

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000 in February, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The consensus was for a 160,000 increase, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate increased to 4.1% from January's 4%, which was the market view for February. The jobless rate has been in a narrow range of 4% to 4.2% since May 2024, John Blank, Chief Economist at Zacks Investment Research, said in a note to clients.

"Job growth is likely to soften over the coming months, as federal layoffs related to (the Department of Government Efficiency) continue to mount and ongoing trade policy uncertainty helps to weigh on near-term hiring intentions," TD Economics Senior Economist Thomas Feltmate said in a note.

Average hourly earnings grew by 0.3% sequentially, the BLS report showed, in line with the Street's view. The annual measure rose 4%, falling short of the 4.1% rise modeled by analysts.

"Financial markets have become increasingly concerned about slowing growth prospects in recent weeks, with fed futures now fully pricing for three (25-basis-point) rate cuts by year-end," Feltmate said.

Most US Treasury yields rose intraday. The 10-year rose 1.7 basis points to 4.3%, and the two-year rate climbed two basis points to 3.98%.

The CBOE's volatility index VIX, known as the fear gauge, slipped 0.1% to 24.83 intraday, after trading about 5% higher before Powell's speech.

In company news, Reuters reported that Pfizer (PFE) and its partner BioNTech (BNTX) infringed a COVID-19 vaccine patent owned by Moderna (MRNA). A German court reportedly ordered Pfizer and BioNTech to disclose earnings related to the patent's use and pay compensation to Moderna. Moderna shares were up almost 5% intraday, among the top gainers on the S&P 500. Pfizer stock was up nearly 2%, while BioNTech traded less than 1% lower.

The worst performer on the index was Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), whose shares sank almost 15% intraday after the company disclosed plans to achieve roughly $350 million in run-rate cost savings by fiscal 2027 through workforce reductions.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures jumped 1.1% to $67.06 a barrel.

Gold futures fell 0.5% to $2,913.21, and their silver counterparts slumped 1.6% to $32.82.