Wall Street closed higher on Thursday as investors digested the implications of a British lawmaker's death on the country's impending referendum on whether to leave the European Union.
A British Member of Parliament was shot dead in the street in northern England, causing the temporary suspension of campaigning for next week's referendum on EU membership. The lawmaker, Jo Cox, had been a vocal supporter of Britain remaining in the European Union.
The prospect of Britain's voting to leave in the June 23 referendum has been rattling markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 92.93 points, or 0.53 percent, to 17,733.1, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.49 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,077.99 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 9.98 points, or 0.21 percent, to 4,844.92.
Asian shares rose on Friday, but remained on track for weekly losses in a week dominated by fears that British voters will opt to leave the European Union in next week's referendum.
Campaigning for the upcoming vote, which overshadowed this week's central bank meetings, was temporarily halted after a British member of parliament was shot and fatally wounded on Thursday.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.5 percent, but was down nearly 3 percent for the week.
Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 gained 1.7 percent, taking back some of its steep losses. But Japanese shares were still poised to shed more than 5 percent for a week in which the perceived safe-haven yen soared after the Bank of Japan opted to stay the course on policy instead of mustering additional stimulus in the face of risks from waning inflation and weak global growth.
Reference: Reuters
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