U.S. Markets

Blue-chip stocks pushed back toward the day's highs as investors grew hopeful that European leaders' commitment to preventing a banking crisis and Chinese purchases of euro-zone debt could help resolve the region's debt woes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 130 points, or 1.1%, to 11837 in recent trading.

The blue-chip index shot up 162 points after the opening bell, only to slide into negative territory amid discouraging headlines about progress on the European debt crisis. Stocks shot up more than 100 points to the day's highs after reports that China would invest in Europe's bailout fund. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 10 points, or 0.8%, to 1239, while the Nasdaq Composite added six points, or 0.2%, to 2644.

The gyrations began before the opening bell, after German lawmakers approved leveraging the euro zone's emergency bailout fund. In the morning, reports suggested the size of the bailout fund may not be clear for several weeks, damping some of the initial enthusiasm.

Separately, Juergen Stark, a member of the European Central Bank executive board warned Wednesday of new "distortions" in the economy created by excessive liquidity in the financial markets and stemming from the impact of low interest rates.

Amid the flurry of headlines, investors remained skeptical about a quick resolution to the Continent's debt crisis. Leading the gains were energy, materials and financial stocks.

But Boeing was the strongest performer among Dow components, rising 4.3% after the aerospace giant beat third-quarter earnings estimates and raised its full-year outlook, though revenue was weaker than expected. Weighing on the downside was Amazon.com's disappointing earnings number, which weighed heavily on consumer discretionary stocks and dragged on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite. Amazon.com slumped 12% after the online retailer reported third-quarter earnings that missed expectations as well as a drop in operating margins.

European Stocks

A pan-European stock index ended marginally higher Wednesday, as investors largely retreated to the sidelines ahead of a euro-zone summit aimed at producing a plan to tackle the sovereign-debt crisis.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% to 240.80. Among bank shares, UniCredit SpA advanced 0.9% in Milan, Societe Generale SA fell 1.2% in Paris and Commerzbank AG climbed 0.9% in Frankfurt.

The spotlight is on the summit of European Union and euro-zone heads of state that will take place Wednesday evening and at which a package of measures to fight the debt crisis is expected to be announced. Investors digested various media reports, including a report by Bloomberg News that EU talks with banks on Greek bond losses were deadlocked.

Europe's major national benchmarks were mixed Wednesday. Germany's DAX 30 index fell 0.5% to 6,016.07, with Deutsche Boerse AG closing down 3.2%. Shares of Adidas AG fell 3% after the sportswear maker was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Morgan Stanley.

Shares of Merck KGaA rallied 8.5% after the German chemical and pharmaceutical firm reported a 7.5% rise in third-quarter net profit and confirmed its full-year profit forecast. In France, the CAC-40 index slipped 0.2% to 3,169.62, with bank BNP Paribas SA down 2.5%. Car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA fell 0.9%.

Peugeot said it now expects full-year operating profit at its automotive division to be close to break-even, citing intensified pricing pressures in Europe since September. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 5,553.24, as silver miner Fresnillo PLC rallied 4.4%, tracking gains in silver and gold prices. Shares of retailer Next PLC fell 2.1% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy.

Asia-Pacific Markets

Most of Asia's major stock markets swung from opening losses to closing gains Wednesday, as anxiety ahead of a key European Union summit gave way to optimism over Chinese economic policy.

Asian bourses had started broadly lower, with investors cautious as EU leaders are set to meet later Wednesday to hammer out a deal to enlarge a key financial rescue fund and other issues to resolve the region's debt crisis.

Reports of German opposition to allowing more bond-buying by the European Central Bank helped fuel pessimism over the likelihood of a comprehensive deal, with BNP Paribas analysts writing early in the day that closure on the euro-zone saga is far from being reached. But by the end of trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had moved from a loss of more than 1.0% to a gain of 0.5%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average pared a 1.0% opening loss to end with a more modest 0.2% drop after rising into positive territory just before the close.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3%, and China's Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7%. KGI Asia Chief Operating Officer Ben Kwong said the turnaround was due in large part to hopes that China may soon begin a slight policy easing after a series of tightening moves throughout much of the year to keep a lid on prices.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese banks reacted well to Wen's speech, with Bank of China Ltd. rising 1.1% and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. up 4.1%. The performance in Tokyo was mixed, with some names dragged down by strength in the Japanese yen.

Currency moves weighed on some Japanese exporters, with Sharp Corp. losing 1.3%, and Honda Motor Co. dropping 0.6%, with the latter also weighed by production problems caused by flooding in Thailand.

But other blue-chip exporters shrugged off the strong yen, including Hitachi Ltd, which saw its stock rise 3.7% after it raised its forecast for fiscal first-half profit. Meanwhile, Canon Inc. added 0.6% in Tokyo after posting a 14.2% rise in quarterly net-profit and despite cutting its outlook. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco, advanced 3.9% in Hong Kong and 2.6% in Shanghai after posting a swing to third-quarter profit.

Commodities

Base metals closed the day mostly lower on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday, following a volatile trading session that saw the metals swing in wide ranges on the back of newsflow out of Europe.

At the close, LME three-month copper was up 2.0% at $7,680 a metric ton. The metal earlier rallied 5.2% to a five-week high at $7,920/ton after German lawmakers approved an expanded mandate for the euro zone's EUR440 billion bailout fund, but pared gains later in the session.

Copper's "knee-jerk" reaction to the news out of Germany served as a further reminder of how firmly locked the attention of metal markets have been on the unfolding situation in Europe in recent weeks, said a senior market participant.

The rest of the base metal complex closed mostly lower Wednesday, with tin falling the most at the kerb close to finish 3.7% lower at $21,375/ton. Nickel was down 3.2% at $19,125/ton.

Oil futures pulled back Wednesday after the U.S. government reported a bigger than expected increase in oil stockpiles. The news undercut fears of supply shortages, which had pushed the market up 8% in the previous three sessions.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery settled down $2.97, or 3.2%, at $90.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange settled down $2.01, or 1.8%, to $108.91 a barrel.

A sharp increase in oil imports sent crude inventories last week rising 4.7 million barrels, according to a weekly survey by the Department of Energy.

Analysts had expected only a 400,000-barrel build. Gold futures settled at a five-week high, buoyed by renewed appetite in low risk assets ahead of the European Union's announcement of a comprehensive plan for Europe's debt problems. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, gained $23.10, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,723.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.