NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
U.S. stocks edged higher early Friday as investors dipped their toes back in amid a weaker-than-forecast retail sales report and a stronger-than-expected read on consumer sentiment.
At around 10:00 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average (up 21.48 to 9859.42, Charts), the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 1.76 to 1060.17, Charts) index, and the Nasdaq composite (down 0.52 to 1966.83, Charts) all traded higher.
About 30 minutes after trading began, the University of Michigan's preliminary reading on consumer sentiment was released. Sentiment in November rose to 93.5 from 89.6 last month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting a rise to 91.3
Among the stocks moving higher in the early going, drug and pharmaceutical issues such as Merck (MRK: up $1.02 to $46.82, Research, Estimates) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: up $1.53 to $51.63, Research, Estimates) continued to shine following a bullish analyst note Thursday from Deutsche Bank. Positive research trial data for Pfizer (PFE: up $0.64 to $34.09, Research, Estimates) on its cholesterol-treatment drug, Lipitor, continued to boost that stock.
Disappointment about Wal-Mart's (WMT: up $0.23 to $55.75, Research, Estimates) earnings and forecast sparked a selloff through most of Thursday, with some market participants worrying that the No. 1 retailer's results anticipated a slowdown in consumer spending. However, Thursday's session also followed one in which the major indexes had closed within points of their best levels of the year, setting up the day for a bout of consolidation.
Any concerns about consumer spending after Wal-Mart's report were certainly not belied by the October retail sales report, released before the open Friday.
Retail sales fell 0.3 percent after falling a revised 0.4 percent last month, the government said. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected a fall of 0.2 percent. Sales excluding autos rose 0.2 percent in October after rising a revised 0.2 percent in September. Economists expected sales ex-autos to rise 0.2 percent.
In other morning economic news, wholesale prices rose more sharply than expected in October, a report showed, while industrial output growth slowed down last month.
There are no S&P 500 earnings scheduled for Friday. Late Thursday, Dell (DELL: up $0.05 to $35.69, Research, Estimates) jumped the gun, reporting its earnings just before the close of trade rather than after trading hours, as had been expected. The company said it earned 26 cents per share, in line with expectations and a nickel more than what it earned a year earlier on revenue that beat estimates and grew from a year earlier. (For more on Dell, click here).
Asian stocks ended mostly lower Friday, while European markets were higher in the afternoon.
Treasury prices edged lower in early trading, with the 10-year note yielding 4.28 percent. The dollar weakened against the yen and euro.
Brent oil futures rose 9 cents to $29.39 a barrel in London. COMEX gold was little changed.
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