Stocks opened higher Friday, lifted as investors appeared cheered by the latest round of earnings reports and continued to look ahead to an expected rate cut by the Federal Reserve at the end of the month.

The S&P 500 rose 9.27 points, or 0.3%, to trade at 3,004.38, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 94.1 points, or 0.4%, to 27,317.07. The Nasdaq Composite rose 33.69 points, or 0.4%, to 8,240.93.

Shares of Microsoft Corp. were up more than 2% at $139.24, after trading at an all-time high at $140.67, following a stronger-than-expected earnings report.

Source : MarketWatch