Stocks Opened Higher on Tax Bill Optimism

U.S. stocks opened higher on Friday as investors were optimistic about the passage of the Republican’s much-awaited tax overhaul bill by the year-end. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 118.75 points, or 0.48%, to 24,627.41. The S&P 500 gained 12.46 points, or 0.47%, to 2,664.47. The Nasdaq Composite added 22.30 points, or 0.33%, to 6,878.82.

U.S. oil futures rose modestly on Friday, with the market in consolidation mode after what has been a volatile week for the commodity, as concerns about a North Sea pipeline outage came to the fore again. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 37 cents, or 0.7%, to $57.41 a barrel, while February Brent gained 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $63.59.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.2 percent in November due to a rebound in extracting oil and natural gas after a stoppage due to Hurricane Nate. The Federal Reserve said Friday that mining activity climbed 2 percent last month, while manufacturing activity rose 0.2 percent.