Stocks surge and oil hits its best level in over 3 years

Stocks closed higher Wednesday, even as multiple companies became entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Trump administration, and markets digested a US exit from the Iran nuclear deal.

Here's the scoreboard:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 24,542.54 +182.33 (+0.75%)

S&P 500: 2,696.51 +24.59 (+0.92%)

AUD/USD: 0.7461 +0.0008 (+0.11%)

ASX 200 SPI futures: 6,114.0 +29.0 (+0.48%)

1. Three American citizens who were detained in North Korea were released and are being brought back to the US. The release comes ahead of talks between the Trump administration and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
2. AT&T confirmed that it paid a shell company owned by President Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, at least $200,000 in 2017. The company was after government approval of an acquisition proposal at the time of the payment.
3. Several other companies also said they paid Cohen after Trump's inauguration. Among them are Novartis, which paid more than $1 million and Columbus Nova, which has ties to a Russian oligarch.
4. Oil prices rallied to multi-year highs, a day after President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear deal.
5. Bloomberg LP is starting a cryptocurrency index. The index is made up of the 10 most liquid digital currencies and will be rebalanced monthly.

Here is the upcoming economic calendar:

• The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its interest-rate decision.
• China's CPI and PPI will be release.
• The Bank of England makes rate decisions.
• Monthly inflation data is out in the US.

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