Stocks Opened Higher as Energy Shares Gained

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday as shares of energy companies rose on the back of rising oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 135.03 points, or 0.56%, to 24,442.21. The S&P 500 gained 9.67 points, or 0.35%, to 2,736.38. The Nasdaq Composite was down4.78 points, or 0.06%, to 7,562.91.

Oil prices climbed Tuesday amid uncertainty over the duration of supply outages in Libya and falling inventories in North America, even as Saudi Arabia and Russia pumped more crude into the market. West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 1% at $74.85 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.9% to $77.95 a barrel.

Ford Motor Co (F) on Tuesday reported an about 1.2 percent rise in U.S. auto sales in June, helped by a new record for sport utility vehicles for the month. The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it sold 230,635 vehicles in June, compared with 227,979, a year earlier.