Wall Street adds to gains after Powell comments

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks added to their gains slightly on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said further interest rate hikes were the best way to protect the U.S. economic recovery.

The Fed's steady rate hikes were also the best way to keep job growth as strong as possible and inflation under control, Powell said in a high-profile endorsement of the central bank's current approach to policy.

At 10:03 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 78.48 points, or 0.31 percent, at 25,735.46, the S&P 500 was up 9.49 points, or 0.33 percent, at 2,866.47 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 46.37 points, or 0.59 percent, at 7,924.83.

Ahead of the speech, the Dow was up 0.27 percent, the S&P was up 0.27 percent and the Nasdaq was higher by 0.46 percent.

(Reporting by Savio D'Souza in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)