US stocks slightly higher in morning trade

NEW YORK: US stocks opened higher Friday in the wake of solid gains in Europe and Asia.

But a better-than-expected read on the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index failed to solidify the opening gains and prices eased back after an hour of trade.

At 1530 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.40 points (0.01 percent) to 12,983.29.

The broad-market S&P 500 gained 2.44 (0.18 percent) to 1,365.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 4.19 (0.14 percent) to 2,961.17.

Trade also got a boost from fresh data confirming a steady rise in new home sales, despite a slight slip in January from December.

January sales were at an annual pace of 321,000 units, the Commerce Department said, up 3.5 percent from a year earlier though down from December's 324,000 pace -- itself revised higher from the earlier 307,000 estimate.

"US consumer confidence perked up in the second half of February, reversing the first half's slump that was likely caused by rising gasoline prices, which hit the wallets and the mindset more than the rally in equities and the improving economic environment," said Jennifer Lee of BMO Capital markets.

"The sky looks a little more blue," she added.

Insurer American International Group (AIG) was up 4.8 percent on the back of a promising fourth quarter earnings report late Thursday, with the company also telling investors that it likely has a surplus capital bed of as much as $10 billion under US central bank standards.

El Paso Corp rose 1.1 percent on reports that the Apollo Global management private equity firm was about to finalize a deal to pay $7 billion for its oil and gas exploration unit.

Bond prices were steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 1.98 percent, while the 30-year slipped to 3.11 percent from 3.12 percent Thursday.