NEW YORK, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Stocks turned higher Friday morning with durable goods orders up a surprising 4.2 percent in July.
Economists missed the mark considerably. The consensus prediction called for a rise of 1.6 percent. Transportation orders scored the biggest gains, rising 14.1 percent or $9.9 billion month-to-month.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 80.38 points or 0.62 percent to 13,137.84 after a four-day slump.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index added 17.44 points or 0.57 percent to 3,070.84. The Standard and Poor's 500 added 7.34 points or 0.52 percent to 1,409.42.
The benchmark 10-year treasury rose 6/32, yielding 1.659 percent.
The euro fell to $1.2550 from Thursday's $1.2563. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 78.61 yen from 78.49 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 255 index shed 107.36 points, 1.17 percent, to 9,070.76.