Wall Street closes higher amid Trump remarks

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed higher Wednesday with rise in oil prices, and President-elect Donald Trump's remarks on trade deals and manufacturing.

The U.S. needs to start making good trade deals, Trump stressed during his first post-election press conference earlier Wednesday.

He renewed his pledge to bring American jobs, investment and manufacturing back to the U.S., and to impose higher border taxes on firms that choose to carry their operations to Mexico and elsewhere.

"You're going to sell through a very strong border ... You're going to pay a very large border tax," he said about manufacturers that moved their plants from the U.S. to Mexico.

Although Trump's border tax policies indicate protectionism, indexes in Wall Street posted gains with hopes that his plans would boost the economy.

The Dow added 98 points to finish the day at 19,954. The S&P rose six points to 2,275.

The Nasdaq increased 11 points to end trading at 5,563 -- a fresh all-time closing level.

Oil prices rose 3 percent after reports from Saudi Arabia and Russia indicated that the world's top two crude producers have begun limiting their individual output levels.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $52.28 a barrel, and international benchmark Brent crude was at $55.17 per barrel.