US stocks inch higher as oil crosses $50 a barrel
Wall Street stocks opened slightly higher Thursday, extending the rally for a third day, as US oil prices rose above $50 a barrel for the first time this year.
The higher crude prices lifted most energy shares, with producer Anadarko Petroleum and oil-services giants Halliburton and Schlumberger all rising more than one percent.
US durable goods orders jumped 3.4 percent in April, led largely by aircraft and lesser contributions from cars and electronics, but showing weakness elsewhere in manufacturing.
Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent to 17,876.91.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.1 percent to 2,093.46, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 4,898.79.