US stocks open higher as oil rebounds, banks rise

U.S. stocks moved higher in early trading Friday, seeking their first gain in a week, as beaten-down energy and financial companies rebounded.

A pickup in oil prices and a government report indicating that retail sales improved last month helped lift the market.

Investors also had their eye on the latest batch of company earnings news.

Global stocks have been in a slump since the beginning of the year on concerns that growth in China, which has been the engine of the global economy in recent years, is slowing far faster than expected.

Plunging oil prices and low inflation have added to the market's jitters that the global economy is sputtering.

The Commerce Department said that retail sales increased a seasonally-adjusted 0.2 percent in January, the same as the previous month.

The modest gain is evidence that consumers kept shopping despite sharp drops in stock prices, and it was better than the 0.1 percent economists expected.