Global markets rebound on EU bank moves

Stocks on Wall Street rebounded further after the previous session's dramatic turnaround in the final half-hour of trading.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed up 153 points after being down as much as 251 points at its intraday low.

Investors welcomed signs of improvement in the US economy and the prospects for efforts to stabilise Europe's banks.

European markets snapped a three-day losing streak, with the Stoxx Europe 600 up more than 3% as talk of coordinated action to recapitalise Europe's banks boosted sentiment.

The US economy added 91,000 new private-sector jobs in September, much better than the anticipated increase of 75,000. A reading of service-sector activity also showed continued growth.

At the close (9am NZ time), the Dow was up 131.24 points, or 1.2%, to 10,939.95. The S&P 500 index added 1.8% to 1144.04, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.3% to 2460.51.

Energy, materials and technology stocks were strongest. Oil stocks rose as much as 3.5% as futures rose 5.3%, the most in five months.

Alcoa rose 2.7% while Cisco and Hewlett-Packard each added 3.7% and Intel gained 3%.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European markets rose as policy makers were reported to be poised to help recapitalise the European banking sector. Optimism was helped by a restructuring of Franco-Belgian lender Dexia that will limit any effect on the rest of the banking sector.

The Stoxx Europe 600 ended up 3.1% at 224.15. The UK's FTSE 100 closed up 3.2% at 5102.17. Germany's DAX increased 4.9% to 5473.03 and France's CAC-40 closed 4.3% higher at 2973.90.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures extended their gains after US crude inventories posted a surprise steep drop last week.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up $US4.01, or 5.3%, at $US78.69 a barrel in New York, the biggest one-day jump since May 9.

Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe exchange rose $2.94, or 3%, to $102.73 a barrel.

Gold futures also rose as some investors viewed the previous day's slide to one-week lows as a buying opportunity.

The contract for October delivery settled up $US25.60, or 1.6%, at $US1640.30 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: US dollar advances
The US dollar rose for a sixth session, boosted by US jobs data and weak European economic reports.

The euro was at $US1.3337 from $US1.3352 late on Tuesday. The dollar was at ¥76.81 compared with ¥76.81, while the euro was at ¥102.44 compared with ¥102.53.

The UK pound bought $US1.5435 compared with $US1.5489, while the dollar fetched 0.9230 Swiss franc from 0.9162 franc.