NEW YORK, Nov 16, 2007 (AFP) - Wall Street stocks opened stronger Friday as investors hunted bargain-priced stocks following some sharp declines in share prices over the past week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 78.77 points (0.60 percent) at 13,188.82 just after the opening bell and the Nasdaq composite gained 12.88 points (0.49 percent) to 2,631.39.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 9.26 points (0.64 percent) at 1,460.41.

Traders said bargain-hunters had helped lift the markets in opening deals following falls on European and Asian stock markets.

Despite the gains, traders cautioned that trading would likely remain volatile as investors are still worried that major banks and financial firms could reveal further write-downs related to soured mortgage investments.

"Everyone on Wall Street says 'buy low and sell high' but few have the courage to follow that advice. When stock prices are low, the talk is overwhelmingly bearish, and exaggerated claims seem plausible. That is the case now," said Dick Green, an analyst at Briefing.com.