Stocks rise on Wall Street and add to their records as oil prices hold steady - AOL

U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday morning and extended gains tied to fresh record levels set the prior day, while oil prices held steady. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 487 points (0.9%) by 9:53 a.m. Eastern, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.3%. The S&P 500 and Dow hit records Tuesday, and the Nasdaq remains less than 2% from its peak. The broader rise follows a strong start to August as companies head into the final stretch of earnings reporting; three-quarters of S&P 500 firms have reported so far and Wall Street expects profit growth of 50% once all results are in. Disney jumped 3.2% after beating forecasts, Booking Holdings rose 5.5%, and SpaceX fell 10.7% despite a smaller-than-expected public-company loss. Brent crude rose 0.1% to $79.41 a barrel.