Breaking
Stocks edge higher at the open, set to notch weekly gains as GDP comes in at fastest pace in 4 years
U.S. stock-index benchmarks opened slightly higher early Friday, with markets set to wrap a frenetic week of earnings and economic data in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened less than 0.1% higher at 25,550, the S&P 500 index climbed about 5 points, or 0.2%, at 2,842, while the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5% at 7,888, a day after the index that is most associated with large-capitalization technology and internet-related names was knocked 1% lower by the worst one-day decline in Facebook Inc.’s history on Thursday. For the week, the Dow was looking at a gain of 1.9%, the S&P 500 a return of 1.3%, with the Nasdaq trailing with a 0.4% rise, as of Thursday’s close. Earlier, a reading of second-quarter gross domestic product, a ley scorecard of the U.S. economy’s health, came in at 4.1% rate, slightly below average economists’ estimates for 4.2% GDP but the print was still the fastest pace of growth in almost four years.. In corporate earnings, Amazon.com gained after the e-commerce behemoth posted its biggest quarterly profit in history. Meanwhile a pair of energy giants report quarterly results that came in below average analysts’ estimates. Exxon Mobil Corp. delivered second-quarter earnings and revenue that were cooler than expected, while Chevron Corp. also came in below forecasts. Wall Street also awaited a news conference at around 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time by President Donald Trump, which is expected to be focused on the GDP report.