Stocks Gain ahead of Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March policy meeting for clues to future moves on interest rates. The Dow industrials lately advanced 92.02 points, or 0.51%, to 17,967.44. The S&P 500 rose 7.97 points, or 0.38%, to 2,084.30. The Nasdaq Composite rose 30.40 points, or 0.62%, to 4,940.63.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) agreed to buy smaller rival BG Group (BG.L) for 47 billion pounds ($70.2 billion) in the first major energy industry merger in more than a decade, closing the gap on market leader U.S. ExxonMobil (XOM.N) after a plunge in prices.

Electric car maker Tesla Motors is going after mainstream luxury car buyers by adding all-wheel-drive and more range and power to the base version of its only model.

Rite Aid Corp.reported earnings results for the fiscal 2015 fourth quarter that exceeded analysts’ expectations. For the most recent quarter Rite Aid said its adjusted earnings were 12 cents per diluted share versus the 7 cents per share analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.

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