U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday for the third time in four days, as a rally in airlines and biotech firms led gains across the board. In U.S. economic news, business inventories rose 0.4 percent in June after gaining 0.5 percent in May, while retail sales for July were reported flat, missing estimates and the weakest reading since January. The dollar gained slightly against other major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery rose 22 cents to $97.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $3.90 to $1,314.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average added 91.26, or 0.55 percent, to 16,651.80. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 12.97, or 0.67 percent, to 1,946.72. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 44.87, or 1.02 percent, to 4,434.13.
