NEW YORK — Stocks tallied strong gains Friday, with the Dow industrials bouncing back following a four-session slide, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank has more tools, if needed, to stimulate the economy.

The end-of-week push higher “doesn’t represent much that you can sink your teeth into,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. “Volume is light, and most people are probably headed to the Hamptons.” He said Wall Street will “come back (after the Labor Day holiday) and see what Europe has to say” on Sept. 3.

The final week of summer trading has Bernanke scheduled to speak at an annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Friday, followed by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi the next day.

“Best case, Bernanke will say, ‘Here (are) our tools, but we don’t need to use them, and, by the way, Congress better get its act together,’” Art Hogan, strategist at Lazard Capital Markets, said of the Fed chairman’s repeated calls on lawmakers to move on fiscal policy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 100.51 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,157.97, leaving it down 0.7 percent for the week.

Off 0.5 percent from the week-ago close, the S&P 500 gained 9.05 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,411.13, with telecom the best-performing and the natural-resources sector the sole laggard of its 10 industry groups.

The Nasdaq composite rose 16.39 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,069.79, leaving it 0.2 percent lower on the week.

Treasury prices mostly fell, with the yield on the 10-year note at 1.68 percent.

Gold futures added 10 cents to finish at a four-month high of $1,672.90 an ounce.

Oil fell 0.1 percent to $96.15 a barrel.

On Friday, the government reported orders for U.S.-made durable goods rose 4.2 percent in July on increased demand for airplanes and automobiles, but bookings softened in other sectors.

“The U.S. is taxiing forward slowly. The numbers this morning were good, particularly capital-goods shipments outside the defense sector,” said David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds.

In a letter released Friday, Bernanke said the Fed has the means to take further steps to bolster the economy.

“There is scope for further action by the Federal Reserve to ease financial conditions and strengthen the recovery,” Bernanke wrote in a letter this week to Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican who chairs of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras held talks, with both reportedly saying that they want Greece to remain in the eurozone and Merkel adding that Germany expects Greece “to stick to its commitments.”

“They’ll give him time, but not more money, which is what he really needs,” Kelly said of Samaras’s request for more to reach fiscal goals.

The European Central Bank is considering a plan to set band targets for yields in the eurozone under a new bond-buying program, Reuters reported Friday, citing unidentified central bank officials.