U.S. Stocks Close Higher As Oil Rallies To Year's High

U.S. stocks closed near their session highs Tuesday as oil settled higher for a third day in a row and at its highest price of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 164.84 points, or 0.9%, to close at 17,721.25. The S&P 500 Index rose 19.73 points, or 1%, to finish at 2,061.72, leaving it up 0.9% for the year. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 38.69 points, or 0.8%, to close at 4,872.09. Oil prices , which have recently shown a high correlation to stock prices, settled up 4.5% at $42.17 a barrel Tuesday.