Crude prices edged up on Wednesday despite the unexpected steep increase of U.S. crude inventories last week, helped by sharp gains in equities and the Federal Reserve's brighter outlook of U.S. economy.

U.S. stocks rose sharply on solid earnings, which boosted the market sentiment and helped push up crude prices.

The crude accelerated gains after the Federal Reserve boosted its outlook of U.S. economy after its two-day policy meeting. The Fed expected the U.S. economy to grow between 2.4 percent and 2.9 percent in 2012, 0.2 percentage up from a January forecast of 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent growth. The Fed also expected unemployment to drop to between 7.8 percent and 8 percent by the end of the year, from the current rate of 8.2 percent.

The Fed kept the ongoing record low interest rates unchanged near 0. The central bank said it was prepared to take additional easing measures to stimulate the economy if necessary. This statement also helped bolster confidence in crude markets.

But the oil fell earlier after the Energy Information Administration said that U.S. crude stockpiles added 4.0 million barrels in the week ended April 20. It was the fifth straight weekly steep increase, which was also far beyond the markets' expectation of 2.7-million-barrel increase.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery gained 57 cents, or 0.55 percent to settle at 104.12 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery also rose and last traded around 119 dollars a barrel.