Wall Street Opens Higher to Extend Recent Advance

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark indexes all up for a fourth session on hopes for progress in efforts to resolve the euro-zone’s debt trouble. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately climbed 120.18 points, or 1.07%, to 11,310.87. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 8.71 points, or 0.74%, to 1,184.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 21.76 points, or 0.85%, to 2,549.83.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday durable goods orders dipped 0.1 percent after a 4.1 percent jump in July. Economists had forecast durable goods orders, items ranging from toasters to aircraft meant to last three years or more, would be unchanged last month.

The National Federation of Independent Business filed an appeal Wednesday of a portion of the ruling by the federal appeals court in Atlanta that struck down the individual insurance requirement. The appeals court upheld the rest of the law, an outcome the NFIB says is bad for business. The law would extend coverage to more than 30 million people who are now uninsured, many through subsidies to purchase private insurance and an expansion of Medicaid.

France says it is cutting its budget for the first time since World War II after years of failing to meet EU rules. In its 2012 budget unveiled Wednesday, the French government promised to cut around 30,400 public jobs next year by not replacing one in two retirees.

Amazon.com Inc is expected to launch its long-awaited tablet computer on Wednesday, sporting a low-enough price to give Apple Inc’s iPad some serious competition for the first time. At a news conference Wednesday morning in New York, Amazon will likely unveil a seven-inch tablet that will let users read e-books, download digital music and video games and stream movies and TV shows.