Stocks Opened Higher, Consumer Spending Little Changed

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday , as investors attempted to shrug off worries about the financial health of Deutsche Bank and digested a major inflation indicator. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 106.90 points, or 0.59%, to 18,250.35. The S&P 500 gained 8.82 points, or 0.41%, to 2,159.95. The Nasdaq Composite added 14.77 points, or 0.28%, to 5,283.92.

Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer John Cryan rushed to shore up confidence in his beleaguered lender after concern some clients are reducing exposure to the company pushed the shares to record lows.

Consumer spending leveled off in August, a sign of caution among households amid lackluster economic growth. Personal consumption, which measures how much Americans spent on everything from new cars to nursery schools, was unchanged in August from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said on Friday. That was the weakest reading since March.

Oil futures fell Friday as investors cashed in their recent gains and skepticism grew over a tentative agreement to cut production among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in November traded at $47.26 a barrel, down $0.57, or 1.2%. The November Brent crude fell $0.67, or 1.7%, to $49.14 a barrel.

Costco Wholesale Corp. reported higher quarterly profit Thursday boosted by lower credit card fees and other terms from its new deal to accept Visa-brand cards, replacing a long-term alliance with American Express Co. For the quarter ended Aug. 28, Costco’s profit rose 1.6% to $779 million.