NEW YORK - Petroleum-linked shares rose on higher oil prices early Friday, helping to lift the broader market as the Dow returned to within striking distance of 20,000 points.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 19,905.45, up 0.3 percent
Investors followed the trend set Thursday, when the market returned to buying mode after falling Wednesday on the Federal Reserve's decision to hike interest rates.
"The fact that the stock market didn't cool down on Thursday is precisely why things heated up, as it fostered yet another trade of commission by those afraid of being omitted from further market gains," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
About 30 minutes into trading on the final day of the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 19,891.29, up 0.2 percent. It would take a gain of something like 0.55 percent to for the index to hit the psychological 20,000 mark.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent to 2,264.94, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 percent at 5,466.35.
Software company Oracle dropped 4.0 percent after reporting a 7.5 percent decline in second-quarter earnings to $2.0 billion. Some analysts expressed disappointment with the company's outlook.
Gilead Sciences shed 1.1 percent after a US jury ordered it to pay $2.5 billion to competitor Merck in a patent infringement case involving a drug used to treat hepatitis C. Merck rose 0.6 percent. Gilead said it would appeal the ruling.
Honeywell International rose 0.5 percent after it offered a mixed outlook. The industrial giant expects one percent to three percent organic sales growth in 2017, but its projected range of earnings per share disappointed analysts.