NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday, fuelled by gains in oil companies and speculation that upcoming first-quarter earnings reports might not be quite as weak as previously thought.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 75.04 points, or 0.42 percent, to 18,111.74, the S&P 500 gained 10.68 points, or 0.51 percent, to 2,106.52 and the Nasdaq Composite added 33.73 points, or 0.68 percent, to 5,011.02.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Nick Zieminski)