Wall Street closes at highest level since 1999

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street indexed closed Monday at their highest level in almost 17 years, with a decline in the dollar and a rise in crude prices.

The Dow added 88 points to finish the first trading day of the week at 18,956. The S&P increased 16 points to 2,198 and the Nasdaq was up 47 points to 5,368.

At the final bell, the dollar was down 1.2 percent against the British pound, 0.4 percent against the euro, lost 0.2 percent against the Japanese yen, and 0.1 percent against the Turkish lira.

The dollar’s decline increased global demand for crude oil, but it was Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks Sunday that initiated the rise in prices Monday.

Russia would be prepared to freeze its oil production in cooperation with OPEC members, Putin said in Peru during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference. Although Russia is not an OPEC member, its coordination with the cartel is crucial for any potential deal to influence the global oil market since it is a major oil supplier.

At the close of markets, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $48.39 per barrel -- a 4.2 percent increase, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $49.09 a barrel -- a 4.6 percent gain.

OPEC will meet Nov. 30 in Vienna for its semi-annual conference and discuss a proposal to limit individual members' output levels in order to trim the glut of supply in the global market to balance crude prices.