On Wall Street, Charter Communications rose 1.8% after it said it agreed to merge with Cox Communications in a deal that would combine two of the country’s largest cable companies. The resulting company will change its name to Cox Communications and keep Charter’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn..

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Friday, building on this week's gains fueled by a U.S.-China tariff truce and tamer inflation data, while a vote on President Donald Trump's sweeping tax legislation was also in focus.

US stocks rose on Friday, notching weekly wins across the major averages after an easing in US-China trade tensions. Investors also eyed President Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, which failed to clear a key hurdle Friday,