Stocks Jumped at Open, Led by Boeing

U.S. stocks jumped at the open on Wednesday, boosted by a rise in Boeing’s (BA) shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 217.94 points, or 0.84%, to 26,294.83. The S&P 500 added 12.87 points, or 0.46%, to 2,835.30. The Nasdaq Composite rose 42.16 points, or 0.57%, to 7,444.64.

Oil prices fell for a third day on Wednesday after data from an industry body showed U.S. crude stocks rose more than expected last week. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 22 cents, or about 0.3 percent, at $68.80 a barrel by 0735 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 31 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $64.19 a barrel.

Boeing Co said on Wednesday it expects to deliver between 810 and 815 commercial aircraft in 2018, higher than the 763 deliveries in 2017. The company forecast operating cash flow of about $15 billion in 2018, compared with $13.34 billion in 2017.

Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings is set to take over Xerox Corp in a $6.1 billion deal, combining the U.S. company into their existing joint venture to gain scale and cut costs amid declining demand for office printing.

Anthem Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday and the health insurer forecast 2018 earnings above Wall Street estimates. Anthem said net income rose to $1.23 billion, or $4.67 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $368.4 million, or $1.37 per share, a year earlier. Anthem, which also raised its quarterly dividend by 7.1 percent to 75 cents per share, said it expects 2018 adjusted earnings to be greater than $15 per share.