Investing.com – U.S. stocks registered small gains on Wednesday amidst a slew of company earnings and positive data on the housing market, as oil turned higher on weekly crude inventories.
At 16:22GMT, or 12:22ET, the Dow Jones rose 45 points, or 0.25%, while the S&P 500 gained 3 points, or 0.15%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite traded up 12 points, or 0.24%.
Oil staged a turnaround on Wednesday as U.S weekly inventory data showed a smaller than expected buildup in stockpiles.
Crude had fallen more than 2% in early trading on the news that a strike by Kuwaiti oil workers had come to an end.
In this context, U.S. crude futures gained 1.62% to $43.16 a barrel by 16:24GMT or 12:24 ET, while Brent oil gained 1.68% to $44.77.
In economic news, U.S. existing home sales surged more than expected, bolstering optimism over the American housing market.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, traded up 0.21% at 94.27, at 16:25GMT or 12:25ET.
In blue-chip earnings news, Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) sunk more than 4% and led the decliners on the Dow after reporting its fourth consecutive quarter of sales declines.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) however rose around 1.5% after reporting earnings-per-share after the close on Tuesday that was line with forecasts and announcing plans to lay off 12,000 employees.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) will report after the market close.
Outside the Dow, Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) grabbed headlines as the European Union accused it of anti-competitive practices with its Android mobile operating system and the Internet giant denied the allegations.
Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) managed to jump 3.3% despite lackluster quarterly earnings on reports that Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) would enter the second stage of bidding for its core assets.