Stocks Opened Mostly Lower as Health, Tech Weighed

U.S. stocks opened mostly lower on Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 in the red, led by losses in healthcare and technology stocks, as investors digested more corporate earnings and economic data, The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 62.10 points, or 0.26%, to 23,396.26. The S&P 500 lost 2.75 points, or 0.11%, to 2,582.89. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.41 points, or 0.02%, to 6,791.88.

Oil prices moved firmly higher on Friday, rebounding from a two-week low. WTI for December jumped 80 cents, or 1.5%, to $55.94 a barrel, while Brent for January gained 55 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.91 a barrel.

Construction of new homes climbed 13.7 percent in October, the biggest jump in a year as builders broke ground on more apartments and single-family houses. The Commerce Department said Friday that the monthly gain put U.S. housing starts at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units.