EXCERPT/ The House is scheduled to vote on the bill on Tuesday, with a vote in the Senate expected to follow short on the heels.
Stocks moved notably higher during trading on Friday following the downturn seen over the course of the previous session. The upward move on the day lifted all three of the major averages to new record closing highs.
The major averages gave back some ground going into the close but remained firmly positive. The Dow rose 143.08 points or 0.6 percent to 24,651.74, the Nasdaq spiked 80.06 points or 1.2 percent to 6,936.58 and the S&P 500 climbed 23.80 points or 0.9 percent to 2,675.81.
For the week, the Dow surged up by 1.3 percent, the Nasdaq jumped by 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 advanced by 0.9 percent.
The strength on Wall Street came as traders expressed optimism about Republican lawmakers passing tax reform legislation.
Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., indicated they intend to vote for a revised tax reform bill, suggesting Republicans will have the votes to approve the plan.
A House-Senate conference committee seeking to negotiate differences in the bills passed by the two chambers is expected to release their combined legislation later in the day.
On the U.S. economic front, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report showing growth in New York manufacturing activity slowed by more than anticipated in the month of December.
