(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished higher on Wednesday as a rally in oil prices lifted investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.22 points or 0.66% to finish at 9,217.94. The S&P 500 climbed 13.32 points or 0.68% to end at 996.46. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 13.32 points or 0.68% to 1,969.24.

Oil prices rallied after US Energy Department said that the nation's oil inventory fell 8.4 million barrels in the past week, signaling that the demand for oil may be rising.

Energy stocks finished higher. Exxon Mobil (NYSE: ) rallied $1.51 or 2.27% to to $68. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: ) gained $1.22 or 1.82% to $68.16.

Shares of Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: ), the largest US aluminum maker, plunged 44 cents or 3.41% to $12.48.

Kraft Foods (NYSE: ) soared 69 cents or 2.47% to close at $28.63.

Shares of drugmaker Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: ) surged 39 cents or 2.44% to $16.37. Merck & Co. (NYSE: ) jumped 77 cents or 2.51% to $31.48.

Early on Wednesday, Deere (NYSE: ) reported that its fiscal third quarter net income fell to $420 million, or 99 cents per share, from $575.2 million, or $1.32 per share, in the year ago period. Revenue dropped 24% to $5.89 billion.Stocks of the company tumbled $1.31 or 2.91% to $43.78.

Late on Tuesday, pc maker Hewlett-Packard Co.