US: Wall Street rises as oil drives energy shares

[NEW YORK] US stocks were higher on Wednesday after oil prices hit their highest since June and fueled a rise in energy shares.

Brent crude futures rose 1.9 per cent to US$51.84, supported by an industry report that US inventories probably fell for the fifth straight week and Opec's deal to cut supply.

The ADP National Employment report showed that 154,000 jobs were added in September - the lowest since April and well below 166,000 that economists had expected.

"The number came in a little lighter than forecast ... but we don't think it necessarily changes the narrative of what the Fed's claims are regarding monetary policy," said Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer of Bryn Mawr Trust in Pennsylvania.

The data is a precursor to the Friday's jobs report, which will play a major role in the Federal Reserve's decision on raising rates.

US trade deficit rose more than expected in August, a report from the Commerce Department showed, as a rise in imports offset higher exports.

A growing number of Fed officials have argued for a rate hike before the year ends as conditions in the labor market improve and inflation inches toward the central bank's 2 per cent target.

At 9:39 am ET (1339 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 84.81 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 18,253.26.

The S&P 500 was up 7.97 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 2,158.46.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 17.62 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 5,307.28.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 indexes were higher, led by a 1.03 per cent rise in energy. Exxon Mobil's 0.5 per cent rise gave the S&P its biggest boost. Chevron was up 0.7 per cent.

Micron Tech shares were down 2.4 per cent in premarket trading after the chipmaker gave a disappointing forecast for the current quarter.

Constellation Brands rose 3.3 per cent after the beer and wine maker reported a 16.6 per cent rise in quarterly sales.

Twitter rose 3.4 per cent after the Wall Street Journal reported that the micro-blogging website is expected to field bids this week.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,080 to 574. On the Nasdaq, 1,566 issues rose and 628 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed six new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 28 new highs and 10 new lows.

REUTERS