U.S. stocks open modestly higher with Nasdaq jumping on Alphabet, Netflix boost

U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday with the technology sector rallying after shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Netflix Inc. jumped ahead of opening bell. Shares of Netflix Inc rose 6.3% at the open, after the streaming company added more subscribers than expected in the fourth quarter of 2022 and said its co-founder Reed Hastings was stepping down as chief executive. Alphabet Inc. rose 2.5% after the company announced it will lay off 12,000 employees. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.42%
advanced 0.7%, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.83%
rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.23%
opened nearly flat.