Dow hits record at 26,437 as Intel shares hit dotcom-era highs

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened at a record high on Friday, powered by gains in chipmaker Intel, and the other main indexes were higher as investors shrugged off weaker-than-expected U.S. economic growth data.

Intel's shares jumped 7 per cent to their highest in almost two decades, after strong results offered the clearest sign yet that its years-long effort to shift away from a slowing PC business was paying off.

AbbVie rose 6.8 percent after reporting upbeat profit on strong sales for its blockbuster drug Humira.

The strong earnings helped temper downbeat data on Friday. Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said in its advance fourth-quarter GDP report. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast the economy expanding at a 3.0 percent.

Another set of data showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in December.

U.S. President Donald Trump in his address at the World Economic Forum in Davos warned trading partners that Washington would no longer tolerate unfair trade, but added that the United States was "open for business".

Markets have moved this week on comments from top U.S. officials at Davos, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's endorsement of a weak dollar.

"The dollar move has attracted lot of attention for the right reasons, it's a pretty important driver right now for other assets," said Peter Cecchini, managing director and chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

But the dollar index erased some losses after Mnuchin told CNBC that he wasn't trying to talk down the dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.41 points, or 0.17 percent, at 26,437.2 and the S&P 500 gained 8.83 points, or 0.31 percent, at 2,848.08.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 31.05 points, or 0.42 percent, at 7,442.21.

Of the 118 S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly earnings through Thursday, 78.8 percent have topped expectations, versus an average of 72 percent over the previous four quarters.

Honeywell was marginally up after adjusted earnings narrowly beat estimates and the company raised its forecast for 2018 profit.

Starbucks fell 4.3 percent after it warned 2018 global cafe sales growth would be at the low end of its forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,417 to 1,087. On the Nasdaq, 1,398 issues rose and 963 fell.