NEW YORK, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street finished moderately higher Wednesday, after the U.S. government posted a larger-than-expected increase in orders for big-ticket manufactured goods and oil spike boosted energy stocks.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported orders for durable goods rose 1.3 percent last month, far above the slight 0.1 percent increase that economists had expected.
Light, sweet crude was up nearly two U.S. dollars to 118.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as the market concerned that hurricane Gustav may slam into oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and a weekly report showed a decline in oil inventories. Refineries and Exxon Mobil led energy stocks higher.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae continue to rally, as bailout concerns were alleviated to some extent. Merrill Lynch rallied nearly 5 percent, after its biggest shareholder Temasek planned to raise its stake.
The Dow Jones rose 89.64, or 0.79 percent, to 11,502.51. Broader indexes also traded higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 10.15, or 0.80 percent, to 1,281.66; and the Nasdaq rose 20.49, or 0.87 percent, to 2,382.46.
