US stocks open higher, Dow on track for sixth consecutive weekly gains

 On the last trading day of the week, major US equity indices opened higher and moved closer to record high levels, with Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) on track for sixth consecutive weekly gains. 

At the time of report, DJIA gained around 40-point to 19895, while the broader S&P 500 Index advanced 3-points to 2265. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed around 5-points and rose to 5,462. 

With DJIA approaching an important milestone at 20,000, it is clear that investors are now ready to bet against President-elect Donald Trump's proposed aggressive fiscal policies, which is expected to spur US economic growth. Even on Thursday, the blue-chip index climbed to fresh record territory and traded less than 50-points from the said psychological mark, before retracing on the back of some profit taking. 

On economic data front, disappointing housing starts and building permits data indicated choppy recovery in the US housing market and would might also raise concerns that higher yields, post US-presidential elections, might further impact housing market activity in December. The markets, however, seem to have shrugged-off the concerns and continued scaling higher.