US stocks extend rally as oil nearly $50 per barrel

Wall Street stocks rose early Wednesday, extending the prior day's rally, as oil prices climbed near $50 a barrel.

Oil prices rose ahead of US inventory data that is expected to show a drop in petroleum stocks, suggesting stronger demand. Petroleum-linked shares Halliburton and ConocoPhillips rose nearly three percent.

Sentiment was further boosted by German data showing stronger business confidence in May and by an agreement of eurozone ministers that will unlock bailout funds for Greece.

About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,839.97, up 0.8 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,090.39, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 percent to 4,888.97.

Hewlett Packard Enterprises surged 12.0 percent after announcing it will spin off and merge its corporate services business into Computer Sciences Corp. in a deal valued at $8.5 billion. Computer Sciences soared 33.8 percent as it said the merger would create one of the world's largest information technology services companies, with more than 5,000 clients in 70 countries.

Chinese online giant Alibaba slumped 4.0 percent after disclosing that US securities regulators were probing its accounting for possible violations of US securities laws. Yahoo, which holds a large stake in Alibaba, lost 2.9 percent.

Tiffany dropped 2.7 percent as earnings for the quarter ending April 30 fell 16.6 percent to $87.5 million and it described "a continuation of softness in spending" by consumers.

Banking shares advanced, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all gaining more than two percent.