US open: Stocks trade higher following preliminary consumer sentiment reading

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Friday as investors thumbed over a preliminary reading of November's consumer sentiment index.

As of 1515 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.28% at 36,021.45, while the S&P 500 was 0.16% firmer at 4,656.69 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.24% stronger at 15,742.55.

The Dow Jones opened 78.01 points higher on Friday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session.

On an otherwise light day on the Street, the session's primary focus was a preliminary reading of the University of Michigan's November consumer sentiment index, which revealed sentiment fell from 71.7 in October to 66.8 in November - the lowest reading since November 2011. The drop was principally attributed to an escalating inflation rate and a growing belief among consumers that no effective policies had yet been developed to reduce the damage from surging inflation.

The gauge of current conditions dropped to 73.2 from 77.7, while the expectations subindex went down to 62.8 from 67.9. Inflation expectations for the year-ahead edged up to 4.9% from 4.8% and the five-year outlook was unchanged at 2.9%

Elsewhere on the macro front, the number of job openings was little changed at 10.4m on the last business day of September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with hires and total separations broadly flat at 6.5m and 6.2m, respectively.

In the corporate space, Johnson & Johnson announced plans to separate its consumer health segment from the pharmaceuticals and medical device business, creating a new publicly traded company.

The separation will create "two global leaders that are better positioned to deliver improved health outcomes for patients and consumers through innovation, pursue more targeted business strategies and accelerate growth," it said. J&J is aiming to complete the separation in 18 to 24 months, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

No major earnings were slated for release on Friday.