U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday as investors continued to assess Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks on monetary policy.

Yellen said Tuesday that the case for a gradual pace of adjustments is strengthened in the face of significant uncertainties.

"With gradual adjustments in monetary policy, inflation will stabilize at around the FOMC's (Federal Open Market Committee) 2 percent objective over the next few years, accompanied by some further strengthening in labor market conditions," she said.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in August increased 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 1.7 percent, to 232.8 billion dollars, beating market consensus, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday.

In corporate news, shares of Nike tumbled over 4 percent in the morning session Wednesday after the sneakers giant delivered quarterly earnings that beat forecasts, but revenues shy of expectations.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.10 points, or 0.28 percent, to 22,346.42. The S&P 500 added 8.07 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,504.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 34.19 points, or 0.54 percent, to 6,414.36.