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New York - Wall Street stocks finished higher on Wednesday following a big jump in oil prices that lifted most petroleum-linked shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 36.26 points (0.21%) to 17 000.36.
The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 10.00 (0.51%) to 1 989.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 25.55 (0.55%) to 4, 674.38.
The benchmark US crude oil price climbed to its highest level in more than three months after the weekly US petroleum inventory report showed an unexpectedly large decline in gasoline stocks.
Anadarko Petroleum and driller Nabors Resources both gained 2.4%, while Marathon Oil jumped 3.6%. Dow member Chevron jumped 4.6% on positive analyst commentary after it confirmed a strong dividend.
Technology shares were generally higher, with Facebook rising 1.3%, Google parent Alphabet 1.4% and Microsoft 2.0%. Apple dipped 0.1%.
Nike was the biggest loser in the Dow, shedding 2.5%. Some analysts attributed the drop to the weak performance of sports apparel retailers, including Sports Authority, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week.
Under Armour, another maker of sports gear lost 1.2%.
Fashion chain Express gained 3.3% as fourth-quarter earnings rose 34.2% to $56.1m following a five percent rise in net sales.
Chipotle Mexican Grill dropped 3.4% on news it shut temporarily a restaurant in Massachusetts after four employees became sick. Chipotle told Bloomberg that no customers fell ill and that the restaurant would reopen on Thursday. The episode follows other health-safety problems at the chain.
Blue Buffalo Pet Products, which makes organic pet food, surged 22.4% as it projected full-year earnings of 72 to 74 cents per share, better than the 70 cents expected by analysts.
Darden Restaurants climbed 3.6% after projecting third-quarter earnings of between $1.18 and $1.21 per share, better than the $1.06 expected by analysts.
