US open: Stocks gain as traders digest data

US stocks advanced on Tuesday as oil prices rose and investors digested mixed economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.17%, the S&P 500 gained 0.15% and the Nasdaq rose 0.26% at 1510 BST.

Oil prices also gained with West Texas Intermediate crude rising 0.87% to $43.40 per barrel and Brent crude climbing 0.50% to $45.62 per barrel at 1513 BST.

US wholesale inventories rose a revised 0.3% in June, up from the initial estimate for no change, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. May was also revised to a 0.2% gain from the previous estimate for a 0.1% gain.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said US productivity 0.5% in the second quarter, well below forecasts for a 0.4% increase and following a 0.6% drop the previous quarter.

Productivity, which measures how much an employee produces in an hour of work, has been a major issue for the US economy over the past few years.

The data follows the non-farm payrolls report, which came in much better than expected on Friday with 255,000 jobs added to the economy in July, compared to forecasts of 185,000.

Separately, the National Federation of Independent Business index on US small business optimism rose slightly to 94.6 in July from 94.5 in June, beating expectations for an unchanged reading.

On the corporate front, Valeant Pharmaceuticals shares jumped after the drugmaker reiterated its full year guidance and said it would reorganise after reporting a wider loss in the latest quarter.

Resolute Energy jumped after the oil and gas company reported a narrower second quarter loss.

Walt Disney, Fossil Group and Yelp are scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell.