The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 54.23 points (0.47 per cent) to 11,670.16 in opening trades and the tech-rich Nasdaq composite rose 10.23 points (0.42 per cent) to 2,463.90.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 3.94 points (0.30 per cent) at 1,296.87.

The major indexes extended Thursday's gains: the Dow had added 0.72 per cent, the Nasdaq 1.03 per cent and the S&P 500 0.55 per cent.

Crude prices fell further Friday after OPEC lowered its forecast for oil demand growth, citing a weakening global economy.

'The softening economic situation has led to a further slowdown in oil demand growth,' the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Friday.

The New York futures contract dropped 81 cents to 114.20 dollars a barrel in early trading.

The dollar meanwhile continued to climb against the euro and other major currencies after the European Union reported on Thursday that the 15-nation eurozone economy had shrunk 0.2 per cent in the second quarter.

'Geopolitical concerns and the realization that global slowdown concerns are behind the slump in commodities are acting as an offset of sorts that is restraining buying interest at this juncture,' said Mr Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com. -- AFP