Wall Street opens higher, boosted by finance

US stock indices opened the last session of the week higher, led by the finance sector, as the fourth-quarter earnings season for major American banks and corporations starts up, and following earlier data from the world's largest economy. 

Earlier US data showed US retail sales rose 0.4% m/m in December, slowing down sharply from 0.9% in November, revised from 0.8%, while analysts expected a 0.5% increase. 

Core sales rose 0.4%, besting expectations of 0.3%, while still sharply down from November's 1.3% increase, revised from 1%.

 US consumer prices rose 0.1% in December in line with expectations, slowing down from 0.4% in November. 

Core prices, excluding food and fuel, rose 0.3% m/m, besting expectations of 0.2%, and up from November's 0.1% rise. 

Otherwise, White House economic adviser Gary Kohen said earlier that the stock market is not too high right now, and the tax cuts have begun to have an impact on the economy, with wages rising and optimism improving. 

Last month, President Donald Trump singed into law the $1.5 trillion tax reform bill, which cuts the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, while also signing a stopgap government spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, in turn underpinning Wall Street to successive record highs. 

As of 03:11 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.30%, or 8.25 points to 2,775.81, while Dow Jones advanced 0.56%, or 143.02 points to 25,717.75. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ added 0.15%, or 11 points to 7,222.78.