(Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened slightly higher on Friday, with investors showing caution amid tensions linked to the escalating war in Ukraine while Europe falters.

In early trading, the Dow Jones index gained 115.37 points, or 0.26%, to 43,985.72 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.10% to 5,954.65 points.

The Nasdaq Composite opens almost stable, dropping 0.01%, or 1.37 points, to 18,974.05 points.

Worried about an escalation in the war in Ukraine, after Russia launched a new type of hypersonic missile on Thursday and Kyiv used American and British missiles against targets in Russian territory for the first time, investors are retreating on safe values ​​such as gold or oil.

The main American indices nevertheless begin the last session of a largely positive week in the green, buoyed by hopes that President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and deregulation will stimulate the world’s largest economy.

Elsewhere in the world, however, the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House and the risks of a trade war are causing concern, weighing down Chinese stocks.

The markets are also awaiting the publication, around 3:45 p.m., of data on the private sector in the United States and that, around 4 p.m., of the Michigan confidence index.

On the value side, Gap gained 16% after raising its annual sales forecasts on Thursday, declaring in a press release that the holiday season had “started well”.

Chinese stocks listed in the United States fall in the wake of Chinese markets, with Baidu, Alibaba and Li Auto losing between 3.61 and 8.59%.

Intuit fell 4.3% after forecasting lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, specifying that its investments in AI would take time to be profitable.

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(Written by Pauline Foret, edited by Kate Entringer)

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