Apple leads US stocks higher on Goldman boost

Apple shares jumped on a favorable report from Goldman Sachs Wednesday, helping to lift US stocks ahead of the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes.

About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,586.70, up 97.20 points (0.56 percent).

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 11.25 (0.55 percent) to 2,061.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 26.92 (0.52 percent) to 5,012.94.

Apple shot up 3.0 percent after Goldman Sachs added the consumer technology powerhouse to its "conviction buy" list, writing that the addition of services such as TV, music and payments services provides Apple with "a significant multi-year opportunity" to further monetize its iPhones.

Minutes from the Fed's October 27-28 policy meeting come as the dollar lingers near a seven-month high against the euro. Fed Chair Janet Yellen has signaled a likely hike in near-zero rates in December.

"There is a presumption that the minutes will reveal a budding preference among voters to raise the target range for the federal funds rate at the December 15-16 meeting," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Big-box retailer Target dropped 4.6 percent despite raising its full-year earnings forecast to $4.65-$4.75 per share, up from the prior $4.60-$4.75. Sterne Agee said the results were solid but that investors had hoped for better.

ConAgra rose 3.9 percent on news it will split into two public companies, one comprising consumer brands such as Orville Redenbacher's popcorn and Chef Boyardee spaghetti products and the other consisting of potato and vegetable products.

Rail company Norfolk Southern shot up 5.9 percent after confirming that it received an unsolicited acquisition bid from Canadian Pacific. Norfolk Southern said it would review the offer. Canadian Pacific rose 5.6 percent.