Oil prices jumped on Wednesday as government data showed US crude stocks rose slightly less than expected last week, while the US dollar advanced against the euro ahead of Thursday's European Central Bank meeting.

US stocks climbed as a rebound in oil prices added to optimism sparked by a raft of earnings reports.

Oil producers' meet

Speculation that major oil producers would meet in Russia in May for another attempt at curtailing output also boosted oil prices. Moscow, however, denied media reports that Russia planned to host such a meeting.

Last weekend, Russia and OPEC nations failed to reach an agreement on freezing production at a meeting in Doha, Qatar.

Brent crude oil settled up $1.77, or 4 per cent, at $45.80 a barrel, while US front-month crude, which expired at Wednesday's settlement, finished up $1.55, or 3.8 per cent, at $42.63.

Gains in oil along with other commodities helped push the Thomson Reuters Core Commodity Index up 2 per cent to highest level since December. Chicago Board of Trade soybean, wheat and corn futures all climbed.

Earnings report

On Wall Street, investors focused on the earnings season as they seek catalysts to drive stocks higher. Intuitive Surgical rose 3.3 per cent after stronger-than-expected profit, though other reports disappointed. Coca-Cola was down 4.8 per cent after reporting a drop in sales.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 42.67 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 18,096.27, the S&P 500 gained 1.6 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,102.4 and the Nasdaq Composite added 7.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 4,948.13.

Driven 15 per cent higher since mid-February by a recovery in weak prices and helped by a softer dollar, the S&P 500 stood less than 30 points below last May's all-time peak.

“It would be overly optimistic to assume it's clear sailing from here,” said Alan Gayle, director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta. “The good news has to keep on coming for this market to keep moving higher.”

The MSCI All-Country World index was up 0.1 per cent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended up 0.5 per cent.

ECB meet

The US dollar rose against the euro on fears that comments from the ECB on Thursday could hurt the euro zone common currency, while some riskier commodity currencies remained near multi-month highs on relief over China's economy.

The ECB, though, is not expected to make any policy changes at its meeting on Thursday. It is expected to reiterate its plans to support the euro zone economy, according to analysts.

The euro eased from a one-week high against the dollar of $1.1386 touched earlier in the session and was last down 0.55 per cent at $1.1293 ahead of the ECB meeting.

US Treasury yields rose to three-week highs, as oil and stock prices gained, reducing demand for safe-haven bonds, and as new sales of corporate debt also weighed on the market.

Benchmark 10-year note prices fell 20/32 to yield 1.85 per cent, up from 1.78 per cent on Tuesday. Yields had held between 1.81 per cent and 1.69 per cent since the beginning of April.

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