US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as traders assessed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's latest comments and the official jobs report for February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% at 42,733.2 after midday Friday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% each to 5,755.1 and 18,116.2, respectively. Among sectors, utilities and energy paced the gainers, while financials saw the biggest drop.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee would want "greater clarity" around the Trump administration's policy changes before making their next move on interest rates, Powell said.

"As we parse the incoming information (about policy changes), we are focused on separating the signal from the noise as the outlook evolves," Powell said. "Despite elevated levels of uncertainty, the US economy continues to be in a good place."

The Trump administration could impose matching tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products as early as Friday to match Canada's current tariffs on US goods, Bloomberg News reported, citing US President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, the White House issued temporary tariff exemptions for Canadian and Mexican goods that comply with a North American trade pact, media outlets reported. The US administration recently doubled its levy on Chinese imports. Canada and China have announced retaliatory measures.

US Treasury yields were higher intraday Friday, with the two-year rate moving up 3.9 basis points to 4% and the 10-year rate gaining 3.1 basis points to 4.31%.

In economic news, nonfarm payrolls in the US rose by 151,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. 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.

"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 said.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.9% at $67 a barrel intraday.

In company news, Broadcom (AVGO) shares jumped 8.5%, the best performer on the S&P 500. The chipmaker late Thursday provided an upbeat outlook for its fiscal second-quarter revenue after delivering a first-quarter beat.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) followed Broadcom on the S&P 500, up 7.6% intraday Friday. Late Thursday, the drugstore chain agreed to be acquired and taken private by an affiliate of Sycamore Partners in a deal worth up to $23.7 billion.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares plunged nearly 15% intraday Friday, the worst performer on the S&P 500. The company late Thursday issued a downbeat full-year earnings outlook and announced plans to cut jobs.

Gold fell 0.4% to $2,916.80 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1.5% to $32.84 per ounce.