US open: Stocks reach record gains while the dollar surges

US stocks ticked higher on Friday, reaching record gains on opening, as investors eyed a round of corporate earnings, despite concerns about President Trump’s policies while the dollar surged.

At 1539 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.36% to 20,124.89, the S&P 500 rose 0.21% to 2,239.29 and the Nasdaq added 0.33% to 5,682.01

On opening, the Dow rose 0.31% and reached a new record high with gains mostly from airplane maker Boeing, while the Nasdaq also reached a record high, rising as much as 0.22%. The S&P 500 gained about 0.14%, aided by advances from industrial firms.

In currency markets, the dollar was up 0.75% against the pound to 0.8081, rose 0.7% versus the euro to 0.9367, and was 0.63% stronger against the yen to 112.44.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was down 1.43% to $54.92 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate fell 1.68% to $52.15.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: “Investors got very excited about the potential for tax cuts, fiscal stimulus and deregulation in the weeks following Donald Trump’s election victory but the focus appears to have shifted recently, with the less market friendly immigration, trade and foreign exchange policies coming to the fore.

"Trump has been very active in the early days of his tenure but with traders not knowing what policies he’ll target next and with details on tax cuts and stimulus lacking, there is some understandable unease at the moment.”

In corporate news, retailer Gap rose 2.83% after it said late on Monday that it expects to beat profit targets for the year.

21st Century Fox was 1.37% weaker after it reported a drop in quarterly film revenue on Monday, although earnings beat expectations.

General Motors dipped 5.19% after the carmaker reported a sharp fall in fourth quarter income blaming unfavourable foreign exchange rates.

Michael Kors tumbled 13.98% after falling short of third quarter revenue expectations.

Mondelez, Disney, Gilead Sciences, Pioneer Natural Resources and Zillow are slated to report earnings after the close.

On the data front, US Treasury yields rose to its highest level following the publication of the US trade deficit which fell to $44.3bn in December from $45.2bn in November, below the forecast of $44.9bn. While exports rose 2.7% to $190.7bn and imports were up 1.5% to $235bn.

For 2016 as whole the trade balance rose 0.4% to $502.3bn, a four-year high.

The benchmark 10-year note yield increased to 2.43%, while the two-year note yield was flat at 1.16%.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that the number of job openings in December, excluding farming jobs, fell to 5.501m from 5.505m a month earlier, which was revised down from 5.522m. This was below the 5.580m expected.

US consumer credit data will be published at 2000 GMT.