New York - US stocks edged up on Wednesday as rising oil prices spurred energy companies and the government said durable goods orders unexpectedly rose in April. Crude oil climbed 2.18 dollars to 131 dollars per barrel in New York trading. Morgan Stanley forecast that Brent crude from the North Sea could hit 150 dollars per barrel.
The Commerce Department said company orders for so-called durable goods - which exclude more volatile transportation goods such as cars and planes - rose 2.5 per cent in April, the highest monthly gain since July, on international demand.
A weak dollar has helped spur US exports. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had forecast a 1.5-per-cent decline.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 45.68 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 12,594.03. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 5.49 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,390.84. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased 5.46 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 2,486.70.
The dollar rose to 63.93 euro cents from 63.75 euro cents on Tuesday, and climbed against the Japanese currency to 104.74 yen from 104.27 yen.
Gold fell 7.80 dollars to 905 dollars per fine ounce.
