Midday Report: Monsanto's Quarterly Miss; Crude Adds to Gains

U.S. stocks broke higher on Wednesday as a rally in crude oil ignited gains in energy. Investors looked ahead to the afternoon release of the Fed's meeting minutes, which will be scrutinized as to when the central bank will next raise rates. Crude oil was sharply higher after an unexpected decline in domestic inventories over the past week. The Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 4.9 million barrels, far better than an expected increase of more than three million. Monsanto (MON) was active after missing earnings estimates in its second quarter. The agricultural chemicals company said it would focus on weathering a downturn in the industry. Verizon (VZ) - Get Report snagged a nearly 25 percent stake in youth-focused digital channel AwesomenessTV, pushing its valuation to around $650 million. TheStreet's Keris Lahiff reports from Wall Street.