Stock Market Opens Slightly Higher As Wall Street Tries To Avoid 2nd Straight Down Day

U.S. stocks opened tepidly higher on Wednesday as oil prices attempted to hold ground in positive territory following comments from an oil minister about the possibility of deepening production cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other crude producers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 0.1% at 21,476, the S&P 500 index climbed 3 points, or 0.1%, at 2,440, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3% at 6,206. On Tuesday, the market was pressured lower as crude-oil prices slipped into bear-market territory, described as a fall of at least 20% from a recent peak. August crude trade flat in early trade Wednesday. In corporate news, shares of Red Hat Inc. , were set to rise after the open-source software company posted earnings ahead of forecasts. Looking ahead, investors will be awaiting a report on existing-home sales due at 10 a.m. Eastern.