MARKET SNAPSHOT: Dow Climbs 100 Points At The Open As Oil Jumps To 7-month High

By Ellie Ismailidou and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Oil nears $50 a barrel; energy and financial stocks lead the gains

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, building on the previous session's strong rally, in which the main benchmarks logged their best daily gains in nearly three months.

A jump in oil prices near $50 a barrel following a report showing a decline in crude inventories (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-rockets-to-near-50-a-barrel-as-data-hints-at-us-supply-drop-2016-05-25), lifted energy and materials stocks. Meanwhile, growing expectations that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates as early as next month buoyed financial companies' shares, as higher interest rates tend to boost banks' balance sheets.

The S&P 500 was up 13 points, or 0.6%, to 2,088, led by strong gains in energy stocks, up 1.6%, followed by a 1.2% rise in financial stocks. The utilities and telecommunications sectors were the only sectors in negative territory, down 0.6% and less than 0.1 respectively.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 123 points, or 0.7%, to 17,830, led by a 1.6% rise in J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(JPM) shares, followed by a 1.3% gain in energy giant Chevron Corp.(CVX). A 1% drop in shares of Nike Inc. (NKE) weighed on the blue-chip gauge.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite began the session up 24 points, or 0.5%, at 4,884.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 25, 2016 09:58 ET (13:58 GMT)

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