New York - Stock markets around the world rose for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, trimming August's sharp losses as hopes for more help from the US Federal Reserve drove buying in equities, oil and metals.
Markets have turned sharply in recent days, rebounding from several weeks of losses that saw both Wall Street and global stocks posting their worst performance in 15 months.
Mounting speculation the Fed is preparing a new round of monetary expansion has helped the market regain its footing. The Fed's minutes from its latest policy session bolstered a growing belief the central bank will hint at new stimulus after its $600bn bond-buying program expired in June.
If its efforts, along with fiscal stimulus plans, are enough to forestall a recession, the market could continue to recover.
"The depth of the slowdown is going to depend on what monetary and fiscal stimulus we see in the United States," said Gonzalo Fernandez, analyst at Santander in Mexico City.
US economic data released on Wednesday showed the economy continues to struggle, with the pace of private sector job growth slowing in August for the second straight month. Factory activity in the Chicago region expanded at its slowest pace since November 2009.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 53.58 points, or 0.46%, at 11 613.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 5.97 points, or 0.49%, at 1 218.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.35 points, or 0.13% at 2 579.46.
European shares, tracked by the FTSEurofirst 300 index, rose 2.9% and world equities gained over 1.2%.
For the month, the S&P 500 was down 5.7%. Global shares, tracked by the MSCI All World index, showed a 7.6% drop. It was the sharpest decline on both indexes since May 2010.
Minutes of the Fed's August meeting, released on Tuesday, showed the central bank considered a range of actions to help the struggling economy, including the unprecedented step of tying interest rate policy to a specific unemployment level.
In a note released on Wednesday, economists at Goldman Sachs commented that the Fed was "more dovish than expected," indicating the possibility of stimulus at the September 20-21 meeting was "an even closer call than we thought previously."