Stocks edge up as energy prices leap

U.S. stocks edged higher Wednesday as energy companies climbed with the price of oil. Banks also rose, and investors sold traditionally safe stocks. A survey showed that hiring by private companies continued at a solid but uninspiring clip in July.

“So much of this [economic] recovery could be correctly categorized as slow but steady,” said Mike Baele, senior portfolio manager with U.S. Bank’s private client reserve. “It’s all better than last year, for the most part, but it’s also all below expectations.”

The price of crude oil jumped after the U.S. government said stockpiles of gasoline shrank by more than 3 million barrels last week. S&P Global Platts said that was far more than expected and that total oil production also fell slightly. That helped oil bounce back from the slump that’s taken it from $50 a barrel in early June down to about $40.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 3.3% to $40.83 a barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 3.1% to $43.10 a barrel.

That translated into big gains for energy companies. Williams Cos. rose 7.1% to $25.67 and Devon Energy jumped 5.2% to $38.

Financial stocks also traded higher. Insurance company AIG jumped 7.3% to $58.10 after a strong second-quarter report. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange and other stock markets, rose 5.3% to $278.02 after it said it would split its stock 5-for-1 and buy back $1 billion in shares.

Earnings reports poured in. Luxury clothing, handbag and accessories firm Kate Spade skidded 18.2% to $16.47 after it disclosed weak results and lowered its estimates for the year.

Footwear maker Crocs plunged 23.3% to $8.44 after its second-quarter sales fell $25 million short of analyst estimates. Crocs also said it expects overall revenue to shrink this year.

Fitness tracker maker Fitbit jumped 13.4% to $14.93 after its quarterly results came in stronger than expected. The stock is still down 50% this year, though.

Etsy climbed 8.9% to $13.84. The online crafts marketplace said sales were better than expected, and it raised its sales and other projections for the year.

The price of gold fell $8.30 to $1,356.10 an ounce. Silver fell 23 cents, or 1.1%, to $20.47 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $2.20 a pound.

Wholesale gasoline rose 4 cents to $1.35 a gallon. Heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.29 a gallon. Natural gas rose 11 cents to $2.84 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices inched up and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.55% from 1.56%.

The dollar rose to 101.13 yen from 100.88 yen. The euro fell to $1.1145 from $1.1227.