S&P 500 Closed at Seven Month High

U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Thursday to send the S&P 500 to a seven-month high, as oil prices rebounded on the back of a weekly drop in U.S. crude supplies.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.89 points, or 0.27%, to 17,838.56. The S&P 500 gained 5.93 points, or 0.28%, to 2,105.26. The Nasdaq Composite added 19.11 points, or 0.39%, to 4,971.36.

Oil futures finished higher Thursday, as support from weekly declines in U.S. crude supplies and output offset earlier pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ failure to reach a pact to cap member production. July West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $49.17 a barrel. August Brent crude settled up 32 cents, or 0.6%, at $50.04 a barrel.

New ready-to-drink line of Teavana to be sold next year. Starbucks and Anheuser-Busch InBev have joined forces to produce and distribute the first ready-to-drink teas under the Teavana line, angling to tap a $1.1 billion-and- growing tea market.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT) said Thursday it was six to nine months from beginning to use drones to check warehouse inventories in the United States, taking a step closer to using the technology to compete better with rivals.