US stocks resume advance

Stocks on Wall Street rose sharply, reversing most of the previous session’s losses, as investors awaited the outcome of talks in Europe on the debt crisis.

Further comfort came from reports late in the trading day that China would invest in Europe's bailout fund.

Earlier, conflicting reports ranged from German approval of leveraging the euro zone's emergency bailout fund to suggestions the size of the bailout fund may not be clear for several weeks.

In economic news, US durable-goods orders decreased 0.8% in September, largely in line with estimates. But spending by businesses on equipment unexpectedly jumped.

Separately, new-home sales rose 5.7% in September, the first gain in five months, though prices continued dropping.

At the close (9am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 162.42 points, or 1.4%, to 11,869.04. The blue-chip index shot up 162 points after the opening bell, only to slide into negative territory on initial reports from Europe. Prices lifted again in the afternoon to match their early highs.

The markets were also pressured by Amazon.com's 13% drop after the release of disappointing earnings numbers. Boeing rose 4.5% after beating third-quarter earnings estimates and raising its full-year outlook, though revenue was weaker than expected.

The S&P 500 index was up 1.0% to 1242.00, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5%, to 2650.67.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stocks swung between gains and losses before finishing down for the day.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 0.7% at 240.29. The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% to 5525.54, France's CAC-40 index ended down 1.4% at 3174.29 and Germany's DAX slipped 0.1% to 6046.75.

Asian bourses erased early losses to trade mostly higher after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China should "fine tune" its policy at an appropriate time.

China's Shanghai Composite added 0.7% to 2427.48.after being down as much as 0.6% earlier in the session.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index moved from a loss of more than 1% to close with a gain of 0.5%, to 19066.54.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average pared a 1% opening loss to end down 0.2%, at 8748.47; it rose into positive territory just before the close, then retreated.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 finished up 0.4%, to 4242.50 and Korea's Kospi rose 0.3%, to 1894.31.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures dropped, halting a three-day rally, after the US government said crude stockpiles rose more than expected last week.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell $US2.97, or 3.2%, to settle at $US90.20 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe was down $US1.77, or 1.6%, to $US109.15 a barrel.

Gold futures settled at their highest level in almost five weeks, buoyed by renewed appetite in low-risk assets.

The contract for October delivery gained $US23.10, or 1.4%, to settle at $US1,722.70 an ounce in New York. This was the highest settlement price since September 22.

Currencies: Euro drops back
The euro retraced its earlier gains on reports that there is no progress in talks between banks and European leaders on the issue of recapitalisation.

The euro, which has been hovering around $US1.39, touched $1.3976 before falling back to $1.3899 compared to $1.3907 late Tuesday.

Market participants are focused on a summit of European leaders that could provide some guidance on next steps on how to resolve the region's long-standing debt crisis.

Meanwhile, the euro was trading at ¥105.82 from ¥105.73, while the dollar traded at ¥76.16 from ¥76.09.

The UKUS1.5962 from $US1.6001, while the dollar was at 0.8819 Swiss franc from 0.8780 franc.