Stocks up a tad on Walmart news, rising oil prices

U.S. stocks gained a little Thursday after an encouraging earnings report from Walmart.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 24 points, or 0.1%,  to 18,597.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.2%.

Walmart's (WMT) strong earnings performance and decision to raise its profit forecast helped bolster the market, but that was offset by Cisco's (CSCO) slide following the tech company's layoff announcement. Both stocks are Dow components. Walmart shares ended up 1.9% and Cisco dropped 0.8%.

Meanwhile, investors shrugged at Wednesday's release of meeting minutes showing that the Federal Reserve may yet increase interest rates later this year.

"The general market consensus is that we are in a lower-for-longer environment," said Bill Merz, investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

In the commodities market, oil prices gained for a sixth straight day. The price of West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark crude, rose 3.1% to $48.22 a barrel. Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose about 2%.

Follow Paste BN reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.