Opening Bell: U.S. Stocks Rise on Oil Recovery; GM Posts Earnings Beat

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday, following Tuesday’s sell off on the back of oil price declines. Wednesday's gains were driven by rising oil prices and strong ADP employment numbers. Oil rose over 2 percent to about $30.54 for West Texas Intermediate, as investors clung to hope that OPEC and Russia would meet at some point to discuss production cuts. '$30 I think is the key point - when we start moving seriously below $30, a lot of question marks are added and the momentum sellers start coming in and sell again,’ said Jasper Lawler, a market analyst at CMC Markets, based in London. Plus, ADP said the U.S. private sector added 205,000 jobs during the month of January. This reading tends to be a good preview of Friday's all-important labor report from the government. Finally, automaker General Motors (GM) reported fourth quarter earnings of $1.39 a share, crushing estimates of $1.21. Strong SUV sales contributed to the better than expected quarter. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.