US stocks reverse two-day rout

In a roller-coster session, stocks on Wall Street clawed back gains from the two-day rout earlier this week.

After gaining 219 points in the morning, rally was cut in half as investors braced for new risks in Europe.

But shares gained ground again in the late afternoon after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and appeared to show little movement toward further monetary easing.

Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated at a news conference that the Fed stood ready to ease monetary policy further if growth stalled, saying the central bank was "prepared to take action as appropriate."

Earlier, investors were cheered by higher than expected US private-sector hiring, which turned attention away from the forthcoming G20 summit in Cannes and the unfolding Greek debt crisis.

At the close (9am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which shed 573 points in the previous two sessions, was up 178.08 points, or 1.5%, to 11,836.04.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.9% to 1237.90 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3% to 2639.98.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stock markets came off their earlier highs Wednesday after the European Financial Stability Facility delayed a €3 billion ($4.11 billion) bond issue for Ireland.

In addition, manufacturing activity contracted at its steepest rate since July 2009 in October and showed factory output has been shrinking for three months.

London's FTSE 100 index was 0.2% higher at 5429.90, Frankfurt's DAX was 0.8% higher at 5880.70 and Paris's CAC-40 was up 0.9% at 3094.48.

Most Asian markets ended down but off their lows for the day on Wednesday, with Hong Kong and Shanghai advancing,

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rebounded from early losses to end 1.9% higher at 19733.71, while the Shanghai Composite index finished up 1.4% at 2504.11.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average index still ended lower, losing 2.2% to finish at 8640.42, Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6% to 1898.01 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.1% to 4184.6.

Commodities: Oil steady, gold up
Crude oil futures pared early gains after a weekly government report showed an increase in US inventories.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery was up 78USc, or 0.9%, at $US92.97 a barrel in New York after trading as high as $US93.79. Brent crude traded $US1.18 higher at $US110.72 a barrel.

Gold futures rose along with stocks and other growth-sensitive assets.

The contract for November delivery was up $US27.10, or 1.6%, at $US1738.10 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: US dollar advances
The US dollar rose after the Federal Reserve held interest rates at rock-bottom levels yet stopped short of hinting at new measures to support the economy.

In a jumpy, uncertain market, the euro slipped to $US1.3728 compared with $US1.3700 late on Tuesday. The euro had topped $US1.38 in early trade.

The dollar was at ¥78.10, compared with ¥78.38, while the euro was at ¥107.43 from ¥107.40.

The UK pound was trading at $US1.5945 compared with $US1.5948, while the dollar bought 0.8848 Swiss franc from 0.8871 franc.