Stocks Opened Higher on Growth Optimism

U.S. stocks opened higher on Monday, after a stunning monthly jobs report last week boosted confidence in the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 87.18 points, or 0.48%, to 18,233.92. The S&P 500 gained 6.95 points, or 0.33%, to 2,136.85. The Nasdaq Composite added 30.34 points, or 0.61%, to 4,987.09.

Oil fell on Monday over signs that U.S. shale drillers have adapted to lower prices and on renewed indications of economic weakness in Asia where refiners are already trimming crude runs.Brent crude was trading at $46.43 per barrel at 1205 GMT, down 33 cents from its last settlement. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 30 cents at $45.11 a barrel.

Starbucks Corp said on Monday it will raise the wages of all employees in its U.S. stores by 5-15 percent this year through an increase in base pay and stock awards.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) will offer free shipping with no minimum purchase on all online orders for five days starting on July 11, stepping up its battle against Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) highly publicized shopping event “Prime Day”.

Google launched a program to train 2 million developers in India for its Android platform as its fires up a race with Apple Inc. for the country’s developers to create innovative mobile apps.