U.S. stocks opened modestly higher on Friday, August 21, after a sharp selloff the previous session, but remained on track for weekly losses as elevated government bond yields, higher energy prices, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, uncontrolled deficit spending and record corporate debt issuance weighed on risk appetite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.7 points, or 0.02%, to 52,768.87, the S&P 500 gained 24.5 points, or 0.32%, to 7,665.68, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 131.7 points, or 0.51%, to 26,198.835. On Thursday, the Dow fell 703.84 points, or 1.32%, to 52,759.21, the S&P 500 dropped 66.82 points, or 0.87%, to 7,641.16, and the Nasdaq declined 263.92 points, or 1.00%, to 26,067.17. Walmart's U.S. same-store sales growth slowed to 2.6%, below analysts' 3.8% forecast, sending its shares down 9.2% Thursday and leaving them about 10% lower for the week while raising concerns about consumer spending. Long-term Treasury yields remained around 4.70% for the 10-year note and 5.25% for the 30-year, while the two-year yield hovered near 4.19%, and oil prices rose after President Donald Trump threatened economic consequences for countries supporting Iran. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 203 points to 25,698 for a fourth consecutive session as investors awaited major Chinese bank and Meituan earnings. Chipmakers and AI hyperscalers remained mixed after steep weekly losses, with Intel, AMD and Seagate set to fall about 10% for the week and Meta and Broadcom about 7%.