Wall Street closes flat, crude gains before OPEC meeting

NEW YORK (AA) -- Wall Street closed flat Wednesday, regaining earlier losses in the day as oil prices increased after shaving 2 percent in the morning.

The Dow Jones was up 3 points to end the day at 17,789. The S&P 500 increased 2 points to close at 2,099, while the Nasdaq was up 4 points to end the day at 4,952.

It was the seventh straight gain for the Nasdaq, the index’s longest streak in the last 15 months.

Oil prices were down more than 2 percent at the market’s opening but recovered losses later in the day.

At the final bell, West Texas Intermediate climbed to $49.20 a barrel, and Brent crude reached $49.92.

The market on Thursday will focus on U.S. weekly crude oil inventories and OPEC's biannual meeting.

It is highly unlikely the cartel will trim or freeze its output at the meeting in Vienna but members will try to show unity.

Member countries have been divided about cutting production and maintaining output against low oil prices since mid-2014.

During its previous three meetings, OPEC decided not to lower its production quota.