Stocks Opened Higher on the First Trading Day of 2018

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, the first trading day of 2018, signaling a continuation of the solid run from last year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 117.75 points, or 0.48%, to 24,836.97. The S&P 500 gained 16.85 points, or 0.63%, to 2,690.46. The Nasdaq Composite added 70.92 points, or 1.03%, to 6,974.31.

Oil prices edged off a two and half year high on Tuesday, after supply disruptions eased in the North Sea and Libya, while rising tensions in major oil exporter Iran underpinned the market. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped less than a penny to $60. 42, falling earlier to $60.13. March Brent rose 3 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $66.87 a barrel.

BP (BP.L) will take a one-off $1.5 billion charge in its 2017 fourth quarter earnings as a result of new U.S. corporate income tax rules, joining rival Royal Dutch Shell.

The value of cryptocurrencies skyrocketed in 2017 to more than $600 billion, minting scores of crypto millionaires. A few lucky holders are also breathing the rarefied air of the billionaires club — and not just in the most valuable cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which has a market capitalization of $237 billion. Some of these fortunate individuals have attributed their success to using a cryptocurrency trading bot like this one from immediateconnect to navigate the volatile markets.