US open: Stocks gain as Brexit shock eases

US stocks gained on Wednesday as the initial panic of Brexit eased and investors sought bargains.

At 1530 BST the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.99%, the S&P 500 increased 1.15% and the Nasdaq climbed 1.16%.

At the same time oil prices continued to climb as US weekly crude oil inventories fell more than expected and as strikes by Norwegian oil and gas workers loomed.

The Energy Information Administration said US crude inventories fell 4.1m barrels last week to 526.6m barrels. Analysts had pencilled in a 2.4m drop in barrels. However, the EIA said crude oil inventories are at “historically high levels for this time of year”.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.44% to $48.55 per barrel and Brent increased 1.16% to $49.15 per barrel at 1540 BST.

Meanwhile, US personal income and spending grew as expected in May, pointing to solid growth in household consumption during the second quarter, according to some economists. Personal incomes increased by 0.2% month-on-month in May following a rise of 0.5% in the month before, alongside a 0.4% jump in consumption, according to the Department of Commerce.

Economists had been expecting a rise of 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively.

"The good news is that an upward revision to April, coupled with the downward revisions to Q1 - bringing the monthly data into line with the quarterly numbers released yesterday - means Q2 consumption will now rise at a hefty 4.2% annualised rate even if spending is unchanged in June. With a modest 0.2% gain, consumption will be up 4.5%, contributing 3.2% to headline GDP growth. Expect all the tracking models to be revised higher," said Ian Sheperdson, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

US pending home sales fell more than expected in May, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR’s monthly index declined 3.7% to 110.8 from a downwardly-revised 115.0 in April. This was steeper than the 1.1% drop expected by economists, with all four regions experiencing a cutback in contract activity last month.

US mortgage applications fell 2.6% in the week to 24 June compared to a 2.9% increase a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers’ Association.

In company news, Nike was under the cosh after reporting a 2% drop in quarterly profit late on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Monsanto shares climbed as EU antitrust regulators indicated they could open a review of its deal with Bayer.

PrivateBanCorp's jumped after Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to buy the company for about $3.8bn.

Williams Cos advanced after Energy Transfer Equity terminated its merger with the company. Energy Transfer also rose.