Late Rally Saves Wall Street

Traders were keeping a close eye on oil prices following the Energy Department's weekly inventory report. The release showed a greater-than-expected decline of 6.8 million barrels in crude inventories last week. Gasoline stocks rose by 5.3 million barrels, and distillate inventories were up 1.5 million barrels. Oil was off 66 cents to close at $95.67 a barrel despite the bullish report.

Gold hovered near all-time records, up $1.40 to close at $881.70 an ounce. Much like the previous session, gold-related stocks including Gold Fields (GFI Quote) and Yamana Gold (AUY Quote) finished higher.

U.S. Treasury prices also endured a choppy session. Recently, the 10-year note was down 12/32 in price, yielding 3.83%. The 30-year bond fell 18/32 in price, yielding 4.34%. The dollar, meanwhile, was strengthening against the euro.

Markets abroad were mixed. Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 tacked on 0.5%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was higher by 1.9%. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was off 1.3%, and Germany's Xetra Dax was losing 0.9%.