Investing.com – Wall Street opened higher on Friday as worry about the tax reform bill waned.
The S&P 500 inched forward 13 points or 0.50% as of 9:56 AM ET (14:56 GMT) while the Dow composite was up 104 points or 0.42% and the tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 25 points or 0.37%.
Stocks were down by the close of trading on Thursday amid news that two Republican senators have concerns about the tax bill. Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee have said they are opposed to the current legislation while Sen. Bob Corker also disagrees with the bill and is worried it doesn't address the federal deficit. He's waiting to see the final bill before deciding how he will vote.
With the Senate holding a small majority, just one more GOP opposition vote could capsize the bill.
Technology stocks were among the biggest winners in trading after the morning bell. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.28% while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) increasing 0.54%. Airline maker Boeing (NYSE:BA) was up 1.12% while wholesale retailer Costco (NASDAQ:COST) surged 4.13% after its earnings came in higher than expected.
Meanwhile pharmaceutical firm Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) was up 1.97% after it announced it was laying off 14,000 people over the next two years in a restructuring bid to save the company.
Elsewhere computer software firm Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) slumped 5.78% after its cloud revenue growth missed forecasts while CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) was down 6.92%
In Europe stocks were mostly down. In Germany the DAX fell four points or 0.04% while France’s CAC 40 decreased 18 points or 0.22% and in London the FTSE 100 gained 11 points or 0.16%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 22 points or 0.22% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 was down 11 points or 0.33%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.14% to $1,258.80 a troy ounce while crude oil futures increased 0.35% to 57.24 a barrel. The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, railled 0.15% to 93.78.