Stocks Opened Higher after Strong Earnings

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as corporate earnings results continued to roll in. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 196.24 points, or 0.73%, to 27,024.71. The S&P 500 gained 13.18 points, or 0.40%, to 3,319.69. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 12.51 points, or 0.11%, to 10,953.67.

Oil futures posted strong gains Wednesday morning, hitting a five-month high, after data from an industry trade group showed large drops in U.S. stockpiles of crude and gasoline. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery surged $1.66, or 4%, to $43.38 a barrel, while October Brent crude was up $1.60, or 3.6%, at $46.04 a barrel.

The pace of U.S. private sector job growth slowed in July. Private-sector employment rose 167,000 jobs in July, Automatic Data Processing Inc. reported Wednesday.

CVS Health Corp grew profit more than 50% over last year as costs in its health-care benefits unit fell. The company had net income of $2.986 billion, or $2.26 a share, in the quarter, up from $1.931 billion, or $1.49 a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $2.64. Revenue rose to $65,341 billion from $63.431 billion.