US stock market opens higher

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The U.S. stock market opened higher on Monday as crude oil prices gained around 3 percent.

The Dow added 66 points to begin trading at 20,963 and the S&P 500 increased by 6 points to 2,397 points.

The Nasdaq increased 13 points to start the day at 6,134 points. Shortly after opening, the index climbed to 6,142 points -- an intraday highest level.

After Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend their oil production limitation agreement until March next year, crude prices jumped by around 3 percent on Monday.

At the opening bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate went up 3.1 percent to reach $49.40 a barrel; international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $52.35 per barrel -- a 2.9 percent gain.