Wall Street closes higher after Fed minutes

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street closed higher Wednesday after diminished indications of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.

The Dow Jones rose 21 points to end the day at 18,573 and the S&P 500 was up four points to 2,182, while the Nasdaq gained one point to 5,228.

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) officials were divided last month on a rate hike decision, according to minutes from the Fed's July meeting were revealed.

Wall Street began the day lower with worries over about a rate hike in September but soon recovered after the release of the minutes.

The value of the dollar was also down against major currencies after the Fed minutes, while oil prices continued their gains with a weaker dollar.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded at $46.89 a barrel -- a 0.7 percent increase, and international benchmark Brent crude was up to $49.86 -- up 1.2 percent.