U.S. stocks opened solidly higher on Wednesday as upbeat quarterly results from retailers Target and Lowe's helped to support early buying. Investors were also awaiting the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's July 30-31 policy gathering, which could offer insights on the central bank's decision to cut interest rates for the first time in more than a decade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 229 points, or 0.9%, to 26,196, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.8% to 2,923, while the Nasdaq Composite Index picked up 8,018, a gain of 0.9%.

In corporate news, Target Corp.'s shares hit a record high following the discount retailer's report of fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations, while Lowe's Cos. stock also rallied after its second-quarter net income rose to $1.68 billion.

In the afternoon, the Fed will publish the minutes of the July meeting of its rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee at 2 p.m. Eastern. Elsewhere, Italy's bond yields headed lower after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on Tuesday, triggering a power struggle, while German debt yields rose after a bond auction with negative interest rates.

Source : MarketWatch