US open: Stocks record early gains in final session of volatile week
Wall Street stocks opened higher on Friday as a volatile, holiday-shortened week for stocks got ready to draw to a close.
As of 1540 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.51% at 27,675.81, while the S&P 500 was 0.26% stronger at 3,347.87 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate just 0.02% firmer at 10,921.24.
The Dow opened 141.23 points higher on Friday, cutting into the previous session's losses that came after another heavy tech sell-off weighed on indices.
Things were fairly light on both the corporate and data front on Friday, with investors likely turning their attention to next week’s Fed meeting, expecting the upcoming meeting to reveal some hints as to what needs to happen before policymakers can raise interest rates.
Market participants were also focusing an amount of their attention across the pond as European equities struggled for direction amid a Brexit stand-off.
SpreadEx's Connor Campbell said: "Climbing 160 points, the Dow Jones took back a chunk of the latest tech self-off suffered on Thursday night. That leaves it dancing around 27,700, roughly 1,500 points down from where it was at points during last Thursday, just before it took a dive.
"Without much behind Friday's rebound, beyond the flip-flopping nature of the markets this week, the European indices failed to gain any momentum after the US open."
Elsewhere, during a rally in Michigan Donald Trump claimed the US had now achieved one of the lowest Covid-19 facility rates in the world. However, data from John Hopkins University revealed the US had the 51st highest rate among the 169 countries being tracked.
On the macro front, consumer prices increased 0.4% in August, according to the Labor Department, with the cost of used cars and trucks growing more than they had in the last 51 years. The report also showed a strengthening in underlying inflation pressures last month.
Still to come, the White House's monthly budget statement was scheduled for release at 1900 BST.
In corporate news, both Peloton and Oracle posted better-than-expected quarterly results overnight, while Kroger shares were down in early trading despite beating second-quarter earnings estimates.