Washington - Major US stock indices improved on Wednesday on the back of gains in energy and metal shares, while new mortgage- market fears weighed heavily on financial institutions.

The price of crude oil inched upward 0.8 per cent to 115.47 dollars per barrel in New York trading, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it stood by a forecast that oil would climb back up to 149 dollars per barrel by the end of the year.

But home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plunged 22 per cent on reports they may be unable to repay bond debts of more than 220 billion dollars by the end of the quarter. An index of financial shares dropped 6.3 per cent.

Metals producer Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold's shares improved after a Morgan Stanley analyst suggested copper supplies were slipping.

Hewlett-Packard Co rose 5.7 per cent after reporting better-than- expected profits late on Tuesday.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 68.88 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 11,417.43. The broad-based Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 7.85 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,274.54. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.72 points, or 0.2 per cent, to to 2,389.08.

The US currency climbed to 68.82 euro cents from 67.65 euro cents on Tuesday. The dollar rose against the Japanese currency to 109.82 yen from 109.71 yen.

Gold closed at 816.30 dollars per fine ounce, down slightly from 816.80 dollars on Tuesday. (dpa)