Stocks eked out tiny gains Wednesday as oil prices continued to recover and investors hoped the worst is over for the beleaguered energy industry.
Telecommunications companies, which have climbed as the rest of the market has struggled this year, also rose.
Indexes wavered between tiny gains and losses for most of the day, then climbed steadily in the last 90 minutes of trading. Oil prices increased for the seventh time in eight days, an encouraging sign after many months of sharp declines.
Agribusiness giant Monsanto took its biggest loss in five years, hurting materials companies. After Tuesday’s big gains, the market is at its highest levels since the first week of the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 34.24 point to 16,899.32. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 8.10 points to 1,986.45. The Nasdaq composite index added 13.82 points to close at 4,703.42.
The price of oil has been plunging for almost two years, from over $100 a barrel in mid-2014 to $26 a barrel last month. That decimated profits at energy companies and hurt banks that lent money to them.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 26 cents to close at $34.66 a barrel in New York, its highest closing price since Jan. 5. Brent crude gained 12 cents to $36.93 a barrel in London.
Energy stocks did the best in the market. Murphy Oil climbed $2.08 to $19.30, and Marathon Oil rose $1.14 to $9.10.
Telecom stocks also rose, with Verizon Communications up 66 cents to $52.12. Verizon and AT&T are trading at their highest prices in more than a year.
Monsanto skidded after cutting its annual profit forecast because of the strong dollar, competition from lower-cost generic products and lower commodity prices. The stock tumbled $7.19 to $85.30.
Payroll-processing company ADP delivered another positive sign for the economy when it said private U.S. businesses added a healthy 214,000 jobs last month. That followed upbeat reports on construction and manufacturing on Tuesday. The federal government will release its jobs report Friday.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.84 percent from 1.82 percent a day earlier. Bond yields also climbed on Tuesday.
