Summary About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 72.69 points at 16,403.74.
NEW YORK (AFP) - US stocks were mostly higher in early trade Friday, as traders put behind worries about an early interest-rate hike and heightening tensions between Russia and the West.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 72.69 points (0.45 percent) at 16,403.74.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 7.64 (0.41 percent) to 1,879.65, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.91 (0.18 percent) to 4,311.38.
The S&P and Dow maintained an upward climb for a second day despite US and European Union leaders announcements of fresh sanctions on Russia that took aim at major Russian businessmen and a bank close to Moscow s political elite.
The gains suggest "the market will believe the tough talk when it actually sees it and can determine if there is really any hard-hitting economic implications from the sanctions," said Patrick O Hare at Briefing.com.
Banks added to gains from Thursday helped by most getting a strong passing grade on Federal Reserve stress tests.
JPMorgan Chase was up 0.4 percent, Wells Fargo 1.1percent, and American Express 0.6 percent.
But Bank of America slipped 0.8 percent, after adding 2.8 percent Thursday s ahead of the release of the Fed report.
Microsoft picked up another 0.8 percent on top of Thursday s 2.7 percent gain, driven in part by expectations it will soon release an Office software suite tailored for rival Apple s iPads.
IT security company Symantec plunged 12.7 percent after the company sacked its chief executive, Steve Bennett, who took the fall for slumping sales and a share price which has shed 24 percent over the past 12 months.
Sports apparel maker Nike lost 3.7 percent after warning that sales and earnings from major emerging markets could be weak.
Bond prices were higher. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.77 percent from 2.78 Thursday, while the 30-year dipped to 3.65 percent from 3.66 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
