US stocks rise despite lack of clear EU plan

The crisis though appeared to take a new casualty, though, as once high-flying broker-dealer MF Global was reported mulling seeking a buyer after its shares sank 52 per cent in two days following a rating downgrade due to its eurozone debt holdings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 162.42 points (1.39 per cent) to 11,869.04.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 12.25 (0.46 per cent) to 2,650.67, while the broader S&P 500 added 12.95 points (1.05 per cent) to 1,242.00.

The S&P rebounded from mid-session's near-flat position after AFP reports that the eurozone emergency fund would be strongly reinforced, possibly with Chinese money, to a size adequate to contain spillover from the Greek debt problem.

But there was still no comprehensive plan made public as the markets closed.

"The lack of reaction among market participants suggests that after all of the buildup, the summit was essentially a non-event and that market participants weren't really expecting any details today," said analysts at Briefing.com.

"Little by little, we have become used to the difficulties the European have in reaching an agreement," said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Capital Markets.

"And fundamentally, we have had good company results and good (US) economic data," he said.

Shares in Amazon lost 13.2 per cent after the company reported a 73 per cent fall in profits in the third quarter after the market closed Tuesday.

Boeing shares added 4.3 per cent after the aerospace giant turned in a 31 per cent jump in third-quarter net income and raised its earnings outlook for the full year. Earnings per share of $1.46 were well above the $1.09 expected by most analysts.

Ford was down 4.5 per cent after it reported a two per cent fall in profits from a year earlier, though it beat analyst expectations.

The shares of MF Global, run by Jon Corzine, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs, lost 8.6 per cent to $1.70, after Tuesday's nearly 48 per cent plunge, as various media reported the company had recruited investment bank Evercore Partners to weigh options including selling itself.

On Monday Moody's hit the company with a downgrade, pointing to its exposure to European sovereign debt and other risks in its investment portfolio.

But MF's shares finished Wednesday well off the day's low of $1.07, apparently helped by news that the European Union was going to greatly increase the firepower of its emergency rescue fund, which can be used to support the sovereign bonds of weak eurozone governments.

Bond prices dropped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.20 per cent from 2.13 per cent late Tuesday, while the 30-year Treasury was at 3.22 per cent, up from 3.14 per cent.

Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.