U.S. stocks open higher amid data, earnings

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened higher Friday as investors meditated on the newly-released economic data as well as corporate earnings reports.

U.S. industrial production moved up 0.2 percent in November after posting an upwardly revised increase of 1.2 percent in October, the Federal Reserve announced Friday. The latest figure missed market forecast of a 0.3-percent gain.

Meanwhile, business activity continued to grow at a solid clip in New York State, according to firms responding to the December 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index came at 18.0, which remained close to last month's level.

In corporate news, shares of Costco surged over 3 percent in the early trading Friday as the U.S. retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

After Thursday's closing bell, Costco reported net income of 640 million U.S. dollars, or 1.45 dollars per diluted share, for the fiscal first quarter of 2018, compared to 545 million dollars, or 1.24 dollars per diluted share, for the same period last year.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 137.25 points, or 0.56 percent, to 24,645.91. The S&P 500 added 13.29 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,665.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 27.23 points, or 0.40 percent, to 6,883.76.

U.S. stocks reversed early gains to end lower Thursday as investors continued to digest the U.S. central bank's decision to raise interest rates for the third time in 2017. Enditem