Stocks edge up as oil prices rally

Energy companies jumped with the price of oil Wednesday, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Nasdaq composite edged up to records, but overall, stocks finished only slightly higher as a quiet week of trading continued.

The price of U.S. crude oil jumped as fuel stockpiles shrank. Strong earnings from Electronic Arts and Nvidia helped tech stocks rise. Weak results from Priceline and Disney hurt consumer-focused firms, and healthcare stocks stumbled as drug companies fell.

Oil prices made big gains as reports showed U.S. crude stockpiles dropped by 5.2 million barrels last week — a bigger drop than analysts expected. Crude inventories swelled to record highs the last few years.

Benchmark U.S. crude surged 3.2% to $47.33 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 3.1% to $50.22 a barrel.

EOG Resources jumped 3.2% to $94.54. Chevron advanced 1.4% to $106.50.

Crude oil prices have fallen in recent weeks as investors wonder if the members of OPEC and other key oil-producing countries will be able to limit production and support prices. U.S. oil has traded between about $45 and about $55 a barrel this year as investors worried about oil prices and profits at energy companies. The S&P 500’s energy sector has dropped 10% in 2017.

Nvidia leaped 17.8% to $121.29. Electronic Arts, which makes games including “The Sims” and “Mass Effect,” rose 12.7% to $108.16.

Disney fell 2.2% to $109.66 after posting disappointing sales and saying profit at its cable networks declined.

Online booking service Priceline slid 4.5% to $1,824.41 after posting revenue that was a bit lower than expected and issuing a disappointing profit forecast for this quarter.

Boeing fell 1.2% to $183.18 after suspending test flights of its new 737 Max plane because of possible problems with a key engine part.

Online review website Yelp plunged 18.4% to $28.33 after it slashed its revenue forecast for the year and issued a disappointing firstquarter report.

Fossil sank 20.4% to $14.44 after another weaker-thanexpected quarterly report. The watchmaker said sales of traditional watches and other jewelry kept falling.

Bond prices rose early, then returned that gain. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.41%.

Wholesale gasoline rose 5 cents to $1.54 a gallon. Heating oil rose 3 cents to $1.48 a gallon. Natural gas rose 7 cents to $3.29 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gold rose $2.80 to $1,218.90 an ounce. Silver rose 14 cents to $16.21 an ounce. Copper was flat at $2.49 a pound.

The dollar rose to 114.33 yen from 114.28 yen. The euro fell to $1.0862 from $1.0869.