Stocks Opened Slightly Higher on Final Trading Day of 2017

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.