Stocks Opened Higher ahead of Fed Minutes

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 97.59 points, or 0.39%, to 25,062.34. The S&P 500 added 13.09 points, or 0.48%, to 2,729.35. The Nasdaq Composite rose 39.65 points, or 0.55%, to 7,273.96.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, as the market waits for a report to shed light on U.S. supply. West Texas Intermediate futures for April delivery gained 9 cents, or 0.2%, to $61.77 a barrel. Brent crude shed 29 cents, or 0.4%, to trade at $64.96 a barrel.

With inflation fears and worries about borrowings costs, the market will look for clues about the central bank’s inflation outlook and the pace of rate hikes when the minutes are released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

America’s small- and mid-sized business owners are super bullish on the U.S. economy. According to JP Morgan’s annual business leaders outlook survey released Wednesday, 89% of mid-sized businesses and 63% of small businesses are optimistic about the U.S. economy.

Health care costs are likely to put more stress on the family budget during the next decade. The amount of money Americans spend on health care is likely to rise by about 5.5% per year for the next several years, according to new government projections on health spending through 2026.

Apple Inc. is in talks to buy long-term supplies of cobalt directly from miners for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter, seeking to ensure it will have enough of the key battery ingredient amid industry fears of a shortage driven by the electric vehicle boom.