US stocks higher on rallying oil prices

Major US equity indices opened higher on Wednesday as investors digested the US President Donald Trump's decision to abandon the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Crude oil prices soared to 3-1/2 year highs in reaction to the news and lifted stocks of energy companies, which remained supportive of today's modest gains. Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, and impose harsh sanctions on one of the largest oil producers in the worlds, was expected to tighten global oil supplies and triggered a strong rally in oil prices. 

The early up-move, however, lacked any strong follow-through as the jump in oil prices now seemed to have lifted inflation expectations, which might eventually put pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates more aggressively and is bearish for riskier assets - like equities.

At the time of writing this report, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by around 60-points to 24,420 and the broader S&P 500 Index gained nearly 9-points to 2,680. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed over 20-points and inched back closer to the 7,300 mark.