NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stock market indexes rose on Thursday as a rally in the dollar waned. Financial companies gained after a number of banks got approval from the Federal Reserve to raise dividends and buy back shares.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 20 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,060 as of 1:48 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 198 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,834. The Nasdaq composite gained 32 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,881.

RATE JITTERS: U.S. stocks have slumped in March on speculation that the Fed could raise its benchmark interest rate as soon as June. The central bank has held that rate close to zero since 2008 to help the economy recover from the financial crisis and deep recession that followed.