Stocks Opened Higher after Christmas Eve Sell-off

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, putting key equity benchmarks on track to end a streak of four negative sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately advanced 176.64 points, or 0.81%, to 21,968.84. The S&P 500 rose 26.12 points, or 1.11%, to 2,377.22. The The Nasdaq Composite gained 100.61 points, or 1.62%, to 6,293.53.

Crude-oil futures snapped back Wednesday after closing the pre-Christmas session at the lowest since July 2017. February West Texas Intermediate gained 72 cents, or 1.7%, to $43.25 a barrel. February Brent rose 62 cents, or 1.2%, at $51.09 a barrel.

Home price growth in the U.S. remained steady in the fall. Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index reported a 5.5% annual gain in October, the same from a month earlier.