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NEW YORK, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened little changed on Friday, as Wall Street continued to await a key vote in the House of Representatives regarding an Obamacare replacement bill.
"Congressional leaders canceled yesterday's healthcare vote as they don't think they have the votes. President Trump asked that they call a vote today or move on to something else," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note Friday.
The House of Representatives delayed its vote on repealing and replacing parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which had been planned on Thursday, after Republican leaders failed to rally enough support to pass the bill.
The House vote is crucial for U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda. Trump has said the repeal and replacement of Obamacare must happen before action can be taken on his other plans, including a major tax reduction.
Analysts said there appeared to be growing concerns that Trump's tax reform, infrastructure spending and deregulation may take longer to pass than initially thought.
On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in February increased 3.9 billion U.S. dollars or 1.7 percent to 235.4 billion dollars, above market estimates, the Commerce Department said Friday.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 32.19 points, or 0.16 percent, to 20,688.77. The S&P 500 rose 5.40 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,351.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 23.97 points, or 0.41 percent, to 5,841.66. Enditem
