Stocks Opened Higher; Oil Prices Jumped

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, as a continued rally in oil prices boosted energy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 126.72 points, or 0.71%, to 17,890.76. The S&P 500 gained 13.49 points, or 0.65%, to 2,093.64. The Nasdaq Composite rose 23.78 points, or 0.47%, to 5,037.64.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after a report of falling U.S. inventories and signs that U.S. oil production growth was leveling off after several years of very sharp increases. Brent crude prices rose $1.48 to a two-week high of $66.36 a barrel and was trading around $66.08, up $1.20 cents, by 6.30 a.m. EDT. U.S. light crude was up $1.36 at $61.50.

Target announced an increase in dividends and its share buyback program on Tuesday night. The company declared a dividend of $0.56 per common share, a 7.7% increase from its previous dividend of $0.52. The company also announced that it is doubling its share buyback program to $10 billion from $5 billion.

Overseas markets bring in more advertising revenue than the United States for Facebook Inc, amounting to 51 percent of global ad sales in the first quarter, with growth in Asia the fastest in the world at 57 percent. Total advertising revenue for the quarter increased 46 percent to $3.3 billion, the vast majority of Facebook’s $3.5 billion in quarterly revenue.

Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. agreed to buy HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. for about $7.5 billion in the biggest acquisition by a Japanese insurer, stepping up an overseas expansion to counter stagnation at home.