Wall Street ended the trading day with a moderate gain on Wednesday, after an erratic session that was rescued by positive date on durable goods orders. The U.S. Commerce Department released data Wednesday showing that orders for durable good fell just 0.5 percent, less than had been predicted. Excluding transportation, orders rose 2.5 percent – the greatest increase in nine months – while orders for electrical equipment and appliances jumped 27.8 percent, the largest-ever increase. That news gave investors some relief, but trading was also affected by the recovering price of crude oil, the cost of which has been a constant dampener on the market. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.68, or 0.36 percent, to 12,594.03. Broader stock indicators also ended higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.49, or 0.40 percent, to 1,390.84, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.46, or 0.22 percent, to 2,486.70. The Russell 2000 rose 4.07 to close at 738.46. The New York Stock Exchange composite rose 50.32 to close at 9,364.34, while the American Stock Exchange composite ended the day up 8.82 to 2,358.74. The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude oil for June delivery rose $2.18 to $131.03.
