Dow, S&P 500 Up On OPEC Hopes, Trump Appointments

NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Nov, 2016 ) : US stocks were mostly higher early Wednesday on news OPEC was near a deal to cut production and amid fresh signals the incoming Trump administration plans to aggressively pursue tax reform.

Chevron jumped 2.5 percent and oil services titan Halliburton surged 8.6 percent as oil prices soared on expectations the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will set aside differences and agree on a major production cut later Wednesday.

President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin, said in television interviews he plans to prioritize tax reform and easing of banking regulations to encourage more lending.

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 0.

4 percent to 19,197.57, and the broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent to 2,210.32. But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent to 5,376.51.

Sentiment was further lifted by a report from payroll firm ADP that estimated November private sector hiring at 216,000, well above the 160,000 forecast by analysts. Banking shares rallied, with Bank of America winning 2.8 percent and Goldman Sachs 3.1 percent.

Smaller banks Regions Financial and KeyCorp rose more than two percent. Netflix advanced 1.4 percent after announcing it would upgrade its service to permit users to download shows, a benefit that is expected to be popular with subscribers. Software company Splunk advanced 4.3 percent after reporting a 40 percent rise in third quarter revenues to $245 million.