U.S. stocks tallied their third straight session of gains on Wednesday, led by energy shares as oil prices jumped, while better-than-expected economic data helped allay growth fears.
Nine of the 10 major S & P sectors closed higher, with energy rising 2.9 percent.

Oil prices rose 7 percent on Wednesday after Iran voiced support for a Russia-Saudi-led move to freeze production. Data also showed U.S. industrial production in January rose by the most in 14 months.

" Oil continues to directionally trade with equities and oil prices are higher, and more important, economic data recently has been better than feared," said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City.

" Meanwhile, the backdrop for equities is oversold ... This has certainly compelled some folks who are under-invested to get back into the stock market," Ware said.

The minutes show Fed policy makers worried last month that tighter global financial conditions could hit the U.S. economy and considered changing their planned path of interest rate hikes in 2016.

" The sense of what has come out of that, is that you' re not going to see a rate hike in March and you may not even see one in June," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. " What it has done basically is taken that potentially negative issue off the table for the time being."

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