Summary About 30 minutes into trade, Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 130.15 points at 16,622.83
NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street stocks opened higher Wednesday as US investors took their cue from the global rally sparked by the 7.7 percent gain in Japan s Nikkei index.
About 30 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 130.15 points (0.79 percent) at 16,622.83.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 12.98 (0.66 percent) to 1,982.39, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 29.12 (0.61 percent) to 4,841.05.
US markets added to strong gains from Tuesday, when the S&P jumped 2.5 percent and the other indices marked similar rises.
Goldman Sachs led the Dow blue chips higher with a 2.9 percent jump after Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded the investment bank to a "buy" rating.
Yahoo fell 0.7 percent on news that the US tax authority would not pre-approve the company s scheme to minimize its tax liability in the planned sale of a $24 billion stake in Alibaba.
That left the sale in question, and led to several brokers cutting their price forecasts fot the Internet giant.
Alibaba shares, meanwhile, surged 4.5 percent amid expectations that Beijing will unleash more support for its sagging economy.
Among other market leaders, global beer giant AB InBev, owner of Budweiser and other brands, added 1.9 percent after announcing it had taken a 50 percent stake in the large US craft brewer Lagunitas.
Apple shares meanwhile were off 0.2 percent ahead of its expected announcement of updates to the iPhone 6 line and possibly an Apple TV revamp.
United Airlines slipped 0.5 percent after summarily replacing its chairman and chief executive Jeff Smisek and two other top officials amid a federal investigation into possibly corrupt actions involving the New York area airports authority.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury jumped to 2.25 percent from 2.19 percent Tuesday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.03 percent from 2.97 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
