Stocks Opened Marginally Lower; Oil Edged Up

U.S. stocks opened marginally lower on Wednesday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated after making a run at the 20,000 milestone. The Dow lately slipped 9.76 points, or 0.05%, to 19,964.86. The S&P 500 declined 2.39 points, or 0.11%, to 2,268.37. The Nasdaq Composite shed 8.33 points, or 0.15%, to 5,475.62.

Oil prices edged up on Wednesday as investors bet that major oil producers will stick to their deal to cut output next year and help rebalance the market. Light, sweet crude futures for delivery in February traded at $53.55 a barrel, up 21 cents, or 0.4%. February Brent crude rose 16 cents, or 0.3%, $55.51 a barrel.

Italian banks need at least 52 billion euros ($54 billion) to clean up their balance sheets, much more than the rescue package proposed Monday by the government.

FedEx Corporation ‘s FDX second-quarter fiscal 2017 (ended Nov 30, 2016) earnings per share (on an adjusted basis) of $2.80 fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.91.