NEW YORK, New York - Stocks on Wall Street and around the globe rallied hard on Friday pushing the major indices up around two to 3 percent.

"The stock market came into this week oversold, so it was time for a bounce," Quincy Krosby, chief equity strategist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina told Reuters Friday.

"We've seen oil prices come down along with other commodity prices," with markets reflecting "expectations of at least a marked slowdown if not an out-and-out recession."

The Nasdaq Composite did best, advancing 375.43 points or 3.34 percent to 11,707.62.

The Standard and Poor's 500 added 116.04 points or 3.06 percent to 3,911.77.

The Dow Jones industrials rallied 823.32 points or 2.68 percent to 31,500.68.

The U.S. dollar eased slightly despite marginally firmed bond yields. The euro perked up to 1.0553 by the New York close Friday. The British pound was slightly higher at 1.2278. The Swiss franc hardened to 0.9584.

The Canadian dollar edged up to 1.2893. The Australian dollar firmed to 0.6947. The New Zealand dollar strengthened to 0.6319.

The Japanes eyen went against the trend, easing to 135.17.

Markets also rallied overseas. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced 2.68 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 climbed 3.23 percent, while the Dax in Germany gained 1.59 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 320.72 points or 1.23 percent to 26,491.97.

China's Shanghai Composite rose 29.60 points or 0.89 percent to 3,349.75.

The Australian All Ordinaries gained 71.00 points or 1.06 percent to 6,762.40.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 added 135.25 points or 1.27 percent to 10,813.92.

South Korea's Kospi Composite strengthened by 57.28 points or 2.26 percent to 2,366.60.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed up 445.19 points or 2.09 percent at 21,719.06.