By Ovunc Kutlu
NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened higher Friday despite disappointing data.
The Dow Jones rose 40 points to start the day at 22,243 points -- a new record-high level.
The S&P 500 rose less than a point to begin the day at 2,469 points, and the Nasdaq added 2 points to open at 6,431 points.
Retail sales in August fell 0.2 percent, from the previous month, to $478.8 billion in August, the U.S. Commerce Department announced earlier.
The market expectation for retail sales was an increase of 0.1 percent.