After an early wobble, US stocks close higher

U.S. stocks rebounded from an early slide Thursday, nudging the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite to their highest close of the year.

Health care companies led the comeback. Energy stocks declined the most following a meeting of OPEC ministers that ended without an agreement on crude production cuts.

A late-afternoon reversal delivered the second gain in two days for the stock market in what's been a muted week of trading. Investors have been on the sidelines waiting for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise its key interest rate at the central bank's next meeting of policymakers later this month.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 48.89 points, or 0.3 percent, to 17,838.56.

The S&P 500 index added 5.93 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,105.26. The last time it was higher this year was on April 20. The index is now about 1.2 percent below its all-time high set in May last year.

The Nasdaq rose 19.11 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,971.36. That eclipsed its previous high this year on April 18.