US stock market opens flat

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street opened flat Wednesday as the positive sentiment with rising oil prices was balanced out with losses in European stock markets.

The Dow Jones increased four points to begin the day at 18,537. The S&P 500 was flat with less than a one point gain to 2,182, while the Nasdaq was less than one point up to 5,225 at the start of the day.

At the U.S. stock opening, Germany's DAX index was down 0.29 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE posted a 0.05 percent decrease, and France's CAC 40 saw a 0.15 percent decline.

Oil prices extended their gains Wednesday with hopes that OPEC will reach a constructive agreement at its informal meeting at the end of next month in Algeria, and with a weaker U.S. dollar against major currencies.

At the opening bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $42.94 per barrel with a 0.4 percent gain, and international benchmark Brent crude was up to $45.23 with a 0.6 percent increase.

The global oil market is now focused on the U.S.' weekly crude and gasoline inventories change that will be announced later Wednesday.