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U.S. stocks open higher as earnings season kicks off

Xinhua, January 13, 2017 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, as investors digested corporate earnings reports and newly-released economic data.

Markets mainly focused on the start of the fourth quarter earnings season on Friday, when several financial giants reported their numbers.

Shares of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. rallied nearly 2 percent in the early trading after the U.S. bank posted stronger than expected fourth-quarter results.

The company reported quarterly net income of 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, or 1.71 dollars per share, and full-year net income of 24.7 billion dollars, or 6.19 dollars per share.

Bank of America reported better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter but revenue came in below expectations. Its shares rose 1.88 percent in the early trading.

Bank of America posted quarterly net income of 4.7 billion dollars, and earnings per share of 40 cents.

Traders closely followed curves of the financial sectors, which have posted a sharp rally since the U.S. Presidential Election Day.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 are expected to rise 5.7 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 4.4 percent.

On the economic front, the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand increased 0.3 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Labor Department reported.

U.S. retail and food services sales for December rose 0.6 percent from the previous month to 469.1 billion dollars, seasonally adjusted, said the Commerce Department.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52.85 points, or 0.27 percent, to 19,943.85. The S&P 500 was up 6.24 points, or 0.27 percent, to 2,276.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 20.78 points, or 0.37 percent, to 5,568.27. Endi