US open: Stocks higher, Nasdaq hits another fresh record

dl wall street st new york city nyc nyse stock exchange ny dow jones nasdaq sp finance us usa united states of america — Wall StreetSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks traded higher early on Friday, extending solid gains recorded in the previous session.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.48% higher at 39,258.36, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.32% to 5,103.26 and the Nasdaq came out the gate 0.04% stronger at 16,047.30.

The Dow opened 189.25 points higher on Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite hit a fresh record high in early trading after registering its best day in over 12 months on the back of solid earnings from chipmaker Nvidia.

In focus early on Friday, comments from Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller from after the close Thursday underlined the central bank's stance that policymakers will approach their next moves on monetary policy with caution. Waller stated that hot January inflation prints increased the likelihood that cuts may very well be postponed, stating that he would need to see "at least another couple months" of inflation data before deciding how best to move forward.

Traders have now seemingly pared expectations for an aggressive interest rate-cutting programme in 2024, now pricing in moves that fall in line with prior indications from Federal Reserve officials.

In the corporate space, fintech business Block shares were higher in early trading after revealing quarterly revenues had come in ahead of expectations, while used car retailer Carvana surged on the back of an announcement that retail units were set to grow in 2024.

No major data points were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $289.30 1.44%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $395.74 1.35%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $106.38 1.24%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $56.53 0.95%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $21.77 0.93%
American Express Co. (AXP) $215.90 0.89%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $184.64 0.86%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $176.87 0.83%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $185.60 0.75%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $161.60 0.72%