Stocks Opened Higher, on Track to Book Weekly Gains

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Friday and were on track to book modest weekly gains, as investors shrugged off fears of a potential government shutdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 19.32 points, or 0.07%, to 26,037.13. The S&P 500 rose 7.65 points, or 0.27%, to 2,805.68. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 28.05 points, or 0.38%, to 7,324.10.

Oil prices took a turn lower on Friday on worries over record U.S. oil production, and after a major energy watchdog predicted shale producers would help drive production to levels not seen since the 1970s. February West Texas Intermediate oil dropped 42 cents, or nearly 0.7%, to $63.53 a barrel. Brent crude for March gave up 50 cents, or 0.7%, to $68.80 a barrel.

Alphabet Inc’s Google has agreed to a patent licensing deal with Tencent Holdings Ltd as it looks for ways to expand in China where many of its products, such as app store, search engine and email service, are blocked by regulators.