Wall Street closes higher with oil rally

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street closed higher Wednesday with an increase in crude oil prices.

U.S. weekly crude oil inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels, or 1 percent, for the week ending Oct. 14, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.

Analysts expected stocks to increase 2.7 million barrels.

After the decline in inventories, crude oil prices rose.

At the final bell, American benchmark was up 2 percent to $51.41 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent crude rose 1.7 percent to $52.55.

That helped stock to finish in positive territory.

The Dow Jones added 40 points to close at 18,202. The S&P 500 was up four points to 2,144 and the Nasdaq rose two points to end at 5,246.