US open: Dow Jones and S&P rise as oil prices rally
Updated : 14:46
US stocks rose on Friday as energy stocks reaped the benefits from a rebound in oil prices.
Just before 10:00 in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 14.51 points up, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 20 and 56 points respectively.
Oil rose above $60 a barrel on Friday for the first time in 2015, bringing its weekly gain to just under 4%, boosted by indications that deeper industry spending cuts could cap excess supply and better-than-expected German data.
The price of Brent crude rose 3.2% to $61.25 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 2.8% to $52.70 a barrel.
US imported goods prices fell 2.8% month-on-month in January, below consensus expectations of a 3.2% decline.
Prices for petroleum and petroleum product imports were down 17.7% on the month, a drop that was largely expected given the sharp decline of crude prices last month.
“The strength in the US dollar and lower energy prices are key factors driving the biggest monthly decline in imported non-petroleum goods prices since 2009,” Barclays analysts said in a note.
“The recent stabilization in oil prices should help slow the decline in prices of energy imports in coming months.
“However, the outlook for further monetary policy divergence and appreciation of the dollar will likely continue to put downward pressure on non-petroleum goods prices."
In corporate news, CBS after announcing late on Thursday that its fourth quarter profit fell compared with the same period in the previous 12 months, but revenue rose, while Groupon edged higher despite delivering a weak outlook.
CyberArk Software rallied after releasing strong fourth quarter results on Thursday, while JM Smucker edged forward even though sales declined in the third quarter, hit by weak volumes in the company’s US retail coffee division.
Going the other way, Zynga plummeted after saying its fourth quarter loss widened to $45.1m from $25.2m in the year-earlier period.
Gold futures advanced 0.60% to $1,228.00, while the dollar was largely unchanged against the euro and the yen and registered only a marginal loss against the pound.