U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, with tech stocks leading,as equities extended Tuesday afternoon's gains. The dollar traded 0.3 percent loweragainst other major currencies. Lightsweet crude oil for May delivery added 4 cents to $38.32 a barrel on the New YorkMercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $8.90 to $1,228.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial averagegained 101, or 0.58 percent, to 17,735. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 12, or 0.61percent, to 2,067. The technology-heavyNasdaq composite index rose 33, or 0.69 percent, to 4,880.