US stocks regained momentum Friday after Thursday’s losses, moving higher along with global equity markets as the G7 finance chiefs were to meet outside London on global economic challenges

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 13.06 (0.09 per cent) to 15,095.68.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.82 (0.11 per cent) to 1,628.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 7.48 (0.22 per cent) to 3,416.65.

The opening gains followed rises in European and Asian stock markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gaining 2.9 per cent as the yen sank.

Finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the Group of Seven industrialised economies begin talks Friday on spurring growth, with currency factors likely to feature after the dollar surged past 101 yen, and amid US-Europe divisions over the scale of austerity.