U.S. Stocks Rise After Strong Data on Services Activity in July

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after unexpectedly strong data on services activity in July after the international cartel of oil-producing nations agreed to lift production by another 100,000 barrels a day in September.

At 10:17 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 219 points or 0.7%, while the S&P 500 rose 1%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 1.7%.

Data on non-manufacturing PMI showed an unexpected gain in July, to 56.7, from expectations of 53.5 and a June reading of 55.3.

Stocks also are rebounding after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s historic visit to Taiwan, a center of global chipmaking that was the focus on China-U.S. tensions over her visit, the first since the late 1990s for a House Speaker.

Pelosi reportedly left the island without military action by China, which had planned military drills near Taiwan later this week.

The rise in oil production could help lower oil prices, though they have been coming down anyway in recent weeks. Still, oil majors such as BP PLC ADR (NYSE:BP) have been reporting record profits in the recent quarter, thanks to high energy prices.

Earnings continue to roll out this quarter. Last night, PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) raised its annual profit guidance and confirmed that activist investor Elliott Management had taken a $2 billion stake, lifting its shares nearly 12% early Wednesday.

CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) stock jumped 4.5% after it raised its annual profit forecast, citing the strength of its insurance division and sales of rapid COVID-19 tests.

Oil prices were flat. Crude Oil WTI Futures traded around $94.33 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude traded near $100.56. Gold Futures also dipped 1%, to $1771 an ounce.