Stocks Opened Higher on Strong IBM Results

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, with the Dow above 23,000 for the first time, following strong quarterly results from IBM. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 114.58 points, or 0.50%, to 23,112.02. The S&P 500 gained 2.42 points, or 0.09%, to 2,561.78. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.04 points, to 6,623.70.

Oil prices traded higher Wednesday, supported by ongoing political tensions in the Middle East. November West Texas Intermediate crude was up 18 cents, or 0.4%, to $52.05 a barrel. Brent crude for December rose 33 cents, or 0.6%, to $58.21 a barrel.

BM Corp. beat expectations on third-quarter revenue and gave an outlook that hinted it was back on a growth track after six years in retreat. The results showed revenue from IBM’s cloud, cybersecurity and data analytics business rose 11 percent to $8.8 billion in the quarter, accounting for about 46 percent of total revenue. The company’s software revenue also grew for the first time after 13 consecutive quarters of declines.

U.S. homebuilding fell to a one-year low in September as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma disrupted the construction of single-family homes in the South, suggesting housing probably remained a drag on economic growth in the third quarter. Housing starts decreased 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.127 million units, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.