The turmoil in the equity market may end with the main indices of the United States (US) recording gains for the second consecutive day.
The jump can be attributed to upbeat quarterly reports from Nike Inc and FedEx Corp, offsetting a sell-off in consumer stocks.
Also a factor was US consumer confidence data which rose to an 8-month high in December, with inflation easing and the labor market remaining intact.
It indirectly signals strengthening consumer spending, driving much of the economy's growth and allaying fears of a recession.
The data gauge showed a jump at 108.3 basis points from 101.4 basis points while the market forecast was set at 101.0 basis points.
As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial gained 1.6% at 33,376.48 while the S&P 500 gained 1.49% at 3,878.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.54% at 10,709.37.
The situation in Europe also saw a similar performance with the STOXX 600 up 1.7%, led by the retail sector and MSCI's gauge of global shares up 1.2% despite being on track to decline by more than 3% in December.
Asian trading this morning saw Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.35%, Topix up 0.38%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.53% and South Korea's Kospi up 0.39%.
In the meantime, the dollar is seen trying to stabilize itself from yesterday's big decline after the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) change in bond yield control policy.
The greenback index was seen to end mixed against a number of other currencies by showing a slight jump during the release of consumer confidence data.
