By Ovunc Kutlu
NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street opened higher Friday to set new records after release of positive macroeconomic data and rise in oil prices.
The Dow Jones rose 40 points to begin the day at 18,546 points, while the S&P 500 was up 4 points to open at 2,168. The Nasdaq gained 10 points to begin the day at 5,044.
With those results, The Dow and S&P 500 recorded new all-time high levels, while the Nasdaq reached its new high for 2016.
Retail sales for June rose by 0.6 percent, compared to the previous month, beating market expectation of 0.1 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Friday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June came below the expectation of 0.3 percent, but held steady at previous month's level of 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, oil prices have continued their rise on Friday. At the opening bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $45.89 a barrel, a 0.5 percent increase from Thursday's closing, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $47.69 per barrel -- a 0.7 percent rise.