NEW YORK (AP) — Rising oil prices and stronger earnings from big U.S. companies are pushing the stock market higher at midday.

The price of oil jumped $2.30 a barrel to $55.59 a barrel in New York. Energy companies climbed the most among the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

Among energy companies, offshore drilling services firm Noble Corp rose 7 percent.

Delta Air Lines climbed 4 percent after its quarterly profit more than tripled.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 61 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,097 as of 12 p.m. Eastern time.

The S&P 500 rose 10 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,105. The Nasdaq composite added 24 points, or 0.5 percent, to 5,001.