Stocks Edged Up at Open

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday, as investors focused on a batch of mixed earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 8.34 points, or 0.04%, to 21,583.07. The S&P 500 was up 6.04 points, or 0.25%, to 2,466.65. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 19.76 points, or 0.31%, to 6,364.06.

Oil prices logged small gains Wednesday, as investors awaited new U.S. government data that was expected to show an increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. Brent crude was up 7 cents, or 0.1%, at $48.89 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures traded up 4 cents, or 0.1%, at $46.44 a barrel.

Morgan Stanley beat Wall Street’s profit expectations on Wednesday, reporting gains across most of its businesses and producing more trading revenue than rival Goldman Sachs Group Inc, a rare feat. Overall, Morgan Stanley’s second-quarter profit rose to $1.6 billion, or 87 cents per share, from $1.4 billion, or 75 cents per share, in the same period last year. Its revenue rose 7 percent to $9.5 billion, compared with an average estimate of $9.1 billion.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) sales declined year-over-year for the 21st consecutive quarter, the tech company announced Tuesday, but the company’s cloud revenue continued to grow. IBM reported profit of $2.3 billion, or $2.48 a share, on sales of $19.3 billion for its second quarter, with earnings falling 7% from the same quarter a year ago and revenue dropping 5%.