Investing.com
US stocks are up on Wednesday, the third trading day of the fourth quarter, as oil nears $50 a barrel.
At 10:46 a.m. ET, the Dow was up 93.10 points (+0.51%), the S&P 500 was higher by 8.27 points (+0.38%) and the Nasdaq rose 29.79 points (+0.56%).
Energy producers led the rally as West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 2.28% to $49.80, supported by last week's talks of a November planned production cut by OPEC and industry data that indicated plunging U.S. crude stockpiles.
In earnings, U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto, which was acquired by Germany's Bayer AG for $66 billion last month, reported a smaller quarterly loss on Wednesday, helped by higher corn seed volumes and lower expenses.
Wednesday is heavy with mixed news from economic data. US private payrolls increased by 154,000 in September, according to ADP Research Institute. This is less than analyst forecasts on Bloomberg of 165,000.
The services sector made a big comeback in September, rebounding from its weakest level in six years. The Institute of Supply Management's purchasing manager's index (PMI) jumped to 57.1, a big increase from analyst expectations of 53. Separately, Markit Economics' PMI rose to 52.3 in September, up from a preliminary reading of 51.9.
Factory orders unexpectedly rose by 0.2% in August month-over-month, according to a report from the Commerce Department on Wednesday. Economists had forecast that factory orders would fall by 0.2%, according to the Bloomberg consensus.
US Treasurys fell, pushing the benchmark 10-year yield up 3.8 basis points to 1.725%.
Meanwhile, gold is ticking up to $1,270.80 after Tuesday's fall of over 3%.
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