Wednesday's early afternoon trade: Stocks climb on oil rally; Walmart falls

US stocks advanced on Wednesday as a surge in oil prices boosted energy stocks following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from a nuclear deal with Iran. Oil hit its highest level in 3-1/2 years as investors worried that Trump's decision would increase risks of conflict in the Middle East and curtail oil supplies in a tight market.
The energy index, which rose 2.4 percent, has far outperformed other main S&P sectors in the quarter, with a 12 percent gain. "There's a bit more of a risk appetite coming into the market today," said Shawn Cruz, senior trading specialist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.
"The rise in oil is helping energy sector, which is expected to be a pretty big growth sector. A lot of analysts are expecting strong earnings as oil rebounds, and that hasn't really played out so much early this year."
At 12:50 pm ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 163.06 points, or 0.67 percent, at 24,523.27, the S&P 500 was up 21.91 points, or 0.82 percent, at 2,693.83 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 50.07 points, or 0.69 percent, at 7,316.98.
The growth sectors including technology, financials and industrials were all higher, with only the defensive utilities and telecoms in the red.
But worries that rising oil prices will perk up inflation lingered. The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to a two-week high and above the key 3 percent level on expectations of higher interest rates. Walt Disney dipped 1.6 percent despite reporting a quarterly profit above Wall Street estimates.