US stock market opens mixed

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened mixed Friday as major American retailers' stock price recovered from Thursday's losses, but oil prices decreased.

The Dow fell nine points to begin the last trading day of the week at 19,909. The S&P 500 lost less than a point to open flat at 2,260. The Nasdaq rose less than a point to begin the day at 5,448.

At the first bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $52.52 per barrel -- a 0.7 percent decline. International benchmark Brent crude was at $54.65 a barrel with a 0.6 percent loss.

The stocks of retail giants Macy's and Target increased 1.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. On Thursday, the companies' stocks declined 3.5 percent and 4.4 percent respectively, with weak personal spending and durable goods orders data.