US stock market opens higher

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened higher Wednesday as airline companies' stocks posted gains.

The Dow added 17 points to begin trading at 21,484 points, and the S&P 500 rose 3 points to 2,440 points.

The Nasdaq increased 19 points to start the day at 6,207 points.

At the first bell, American Airlines shares rose 0.8 percent, while Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines saw their stock price increase 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

Crude oil prices fell to their lowest level in seven months on Tuesday, experts said, adding that low crude prices have increased investors' demand on airlines stocks.

The market and investors have focused on the weekly change in the U.S.' crude oil inventories and production level that will be released by the Energy Information Administration later Wednesday.