US stocks rebounded on Wednesday, halting a six-day losing run, after some encouraging economic data.
Durable goods orders for July showed a seasonally adjusted rise of 2.0%, when economists had been expecting a 0.6% decline.
"China’s injection of fresh liquidity has been seen as a positive move, as the PBoC looks to build on yesterday’s rate cut," saif Chris Beauchamp, at spread betting firm IG.
The Chinese central bank is said to be preparing to inject 140bn yuan into the country's financial sector, topping up last week's 120bn yuan injection.
"US durable goods were much stronger than expected this afternoon, proving once again that the US economy remains a touchstone of reliability in these troubled times.
"Fed member William Dudley added further to the general atmosphere of optimism with suggestions that a September rate hike was now much less likely.
"Equity bulls on Wall Street now need to maintain momentum and avoid another sharp drop towards the end of the session similar to the one seen last night, or risk handing the initiative back to the bears," Beachamp suggested.
At 3:38 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones (INDEXDJX:.DJI) was up 544 points at 16,210, the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) was 63 points better at 1,931 and the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) was 164 points to the good at 4,672.
Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) shares were on investors' shopping list after the teen apparel retailer reported a surprise adjusted profit and better-than-expected sales in its fiscal second quarter, buoyed by demand for Hollister and Abercrombie kids brands.
Shares climbed 8.1% to$18.67.
Sector peer Express (NYSE:EXPR) has raised its full-year outlook after a record second quarter sales performance.
Shares were up 19.9 to$20.26 after the company revealed like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 7% in the thirteen weeks to 1 August, the second quarter of the company's financial year.
Footwear maker Nike (NYSE:NIKE) was wanted, after it was upgraded by Susquehanna. The shares trotted 4.7% higher to $108.43.
In mergers & acquisition news, Monsanto (NYSE:MON) has been sent away with a flea in its ear by Swiss rival Syngenta after making a bid approach, and has revealed that it is no longer pursuing a takeover.
The shares reacted positively to the rebuff, sprouting 8.1% higher to $96.62.
Shares in Cameron International (NYSE:CAM) gushed higher, after the maker of flow equipment for the energy industry succumbed to an agreed bid from oilfield services titan Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) worth around US$68.36 a share.
Shares advanced more than 42% to$60.51.
Elsewhere in the oilfield support services sector, Transocean (NYSE:RIG) sank 4.5%, a day after the world’s top offshore rig operator said it planned to cancel its next two dividend payments and take write-downs of more than US$2.1bn.