Dow posts sixth winning day out of past 7 sessions

U.S. stocks moved higher Wednesday after a rebound in oil prices helped Wall Street extend its recent rally.

The Dow Jones industrial average, up 43 or 0.2%, has now finished higher in six of the past seven sessions. The blue chip Dow was weighed down by shares of Coca-Cola (KO), which lost 4.8%. The soft drink icon topped lowered profit forecasts but reported profit and revenue declines from a year earlier amid a drop in soda volume due to weakness overseas.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was up 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite ticked up 0.2%.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 are at 2016 highs. The Dow, at 18,096.27, is the highest it's been since July 20.

Wall Street is in the heart of the corporate earnings season, and results, while far from stellar, have been slightly better than expectations. Heading into Wednesday's session, profits for S&P 500 companies were seen contracting 7.5% in the first-quarter, slightly better than the -7.8% at the start of the week, according to data from earnings tracker Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. So far, of 71 companies in the large-company stock index that have reported, 76% have topped analyst expectations, which is better than the long-term average.

Coke soda business goes flat in Q1 while water bubbles up

Investors were watching the oil patch, where U.S.-produced crude was up more than 3% to $42.60. Wall Street is closely watching the key $40 per barrel level, as that price is viewed as a decent price and a level that suggests the recent market stability is still intact despite a weekend meeting of major producers that failed to cement a deal on a production freeze to address the global supply glut.

Wall Street was also reacting to China, where shares of the Shanghai composite tanked 2.3%. The catalyst for the fall, according to Bespoke, appears to have been commentary that suggests the Peoples Bank of China "would be less aggressive" in easing monetary policy this year as Beijing's economic fortunes improve.

Fresh data on the U.S. housing market was positive with March existing home sales rising 5.1% to a seasonally adjusted 5.33 million homes, which topped expectations of an annualized sales pace of 5.28 million.

Existing home sales bounced back in March

Strong housing data confirms that the U.S. economy is not heading south.

"There cannot be too much wrong with the economy if consumers keep buying new homes," Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank told clients in a note. "When they move in they will refurnish the place with carpets, buy some new appliances, maybe add a new car to the driveway, all of which helps the economy grow,"

Stocks in Europe were having an uneventful day, with the broad Stoxx Europe 600 index falling 0.1%.

Adam Shell on Twitter: @adamshell.