Wall Street advances to snap skid, but oil woes weigh

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday after a three-day decline but oil's drop to near seven-year lows still weighed on investors ahead of an expected U.S. interest rate hike.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 82.85 points, or 0.47 percent, to 17,575.15, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.6 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,052.22 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 22.31 points, or 0.44 percent, to 5,045.17.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak)