U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Friday, the final trading day of 2017, led by gains in healthcare stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 4.73 points, or 0.02%, to 24,842.24. The S&P 500 was up 0.20 point, or 0.01%, to 2,687.74. The Nasdaq Composite was off 7.55 points, or 0.11%, to 6,942.61.
U.S. oil prices hit their highest since mid-2015 on the final trading day of the year as an unexpected fall in American output and a fall in commercial crude inventories stoked buying. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.07 a barrel at 1150 GMT, up 23 cents or 0.4 percent from their last close. Brent crude futures were also up, rising 23 cents to $66.39 a barrel.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) estimates the new tax legislation could reduce its fourth quarter earnings by about $5 billion, according to a Friday filing, mainly due to the newly enacted repatriation tax for cash and assets held overseas.
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