NEW YORK — Widespread gains in commodity prices lifted energy and materials companies as part of a broad stock-market rally Wednesday after three days of declines.
Stocks built on morning gains after the Federal Reserve released minutes that showed that officials agreed that the economy is improving, which could lead to higher demand for raw materials such as steel and fertilizer.
The Fed’s bond-buying program has kept interest rates low and sent commodities and stock prices higher overall since last August. The U.S. stock market has gained nearly 25 percent since the central bank signaled that it would begin the asset-purchase plan. Commodity prices had fallen over the last two weeks on concerns about the impact of high energy prices on the economy.
Oil gained nearly 4 percent to move back above $100 a barrel, in part because of a Department of Energy report that said inventories of crude oil did not rise last week as expected. Energy stocks such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil rose nearly 2 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 80.60 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 12,560.18. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 11.70, or 0.9 percent, to 1,340.68. The Nasdaq composite gained 31.79, or 1.1 percent, to 2,815.00.
Analog Devices had the biggest gain in the S&P 500, adding 5.9 percent to $42.60. The maker of chips used in cars, consumer electronics and phone networks forecast third-quarter adjusted earnings of as much as 75 cents a share, topping the average analyst estimate by 5 cents.
“We’ve got good earnings surprises,” said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla. “The numbers will continue to be a lot stronger than people think.”
Fed Bank of St. Louis president James Bullard said the European sovereign-debt crisis has surpassed rising oil prices to become the biggest risk to the economic outlook in the U.S.
Commodity prices halted their slide after floods damaged wheat, corn and soybean fields, with traders anticipating that a supply shortage would lead to higher prices. Materials companies in the S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent, led by a nearly 5 percent gain in CF Industries Holdings. The company sells fertilizer.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
