US stocks open higher on retail sales boost

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Thursday as retail sales data for July indicated resilient consumer spending, allaying fears of an imminent recession in the world's largest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 287.3 points, or 0.72%, at the open to 40295.74. The S&P 500 rose 45.9 points, or 0.84%, at the open to 5501.13, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 201.9 points, or 1.17%, to 17394.545 at the opening bell.