Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday, after the release of lower than expected producer price inflation data from the U.S. and as investors continued to monitor developments in Iraq.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow 30 edged up 0.11%, the S&P 500 added 0.15%, while the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.48%.
Official data showed that U.S. producer price inflation fell 0.2% in May, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise, after a 0.6% increase the previous month.
Core producer price inflation, which excludes food, energy and trade, slipped 0.1% last month, compared to expectations for an increase of 0.1%, after a 0.5% rise in April.
U.S. stocks declined on Thursday, after President Barack Obama warned of possible military strikes in Iraq after a rebellion led by a Sunni Islamist group continued to spread rapidly through the country. Late on Thursday, Kurdish forces in the north took control of Kirkuk to protect it from the Islamists.
Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) slid 0.35% after diving over 15% on Thursday, as the yogawear retailer reduced its revenue and earnings forecast for the fiscal year and said its CFO would retire early next year.
In the tech sector, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) surged 7.26% after the semiconductor maker raised its second-quarter revenue forecast and said annual sales will increase for the first time since 2011.
Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) shares added to gains, up 1.22%, after the micro-blogging service on Thursday said Ali Rowghani resigned as chief operating officer, effective immediately.
Elsewhere, Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) climbed 0.52% after the electric-car maker signed an agreement with real-estate developer Soho China (HK:0410) to set up more battery-charging outlets in Beijing, the world’s largest auto market.
OpenTable (NASDAQ:OPEN) was also on the upside, as the stock skyrocketed 47.22% after Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN), down 0.23%, said it would acquire the online restaurant reservation service for $2.6 billion.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were lower. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.19%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.35%, Germany's DAX declined 0.41%, while Britain's FTSE 100 tumbled 0.96%.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.62%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.83%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.