By close of day, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 29.88 or 0.26 percent at 11,632.38. The Nasdaq composite index was at 2,325.88, up 21.92 or 0.95 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 gained 5.19 or 0.41 percent to 1,282.19.

The weakened threat of Hurricane Dolly to oil equipment in the Gulf of Mexico was a factor in crude oil prices trading most recently at $124.20 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Washington Mutual (NASDAQ:DIMEZ) traded 20.45 percent lower Wednesday while Wachovia shares edged up 3.69 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,973 stocks advanced and 1,191 declined on a volume of 1.722 billion shares traded.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 4/32 to yielding 4.12 percent as the day began.

Internationally, the euro traded at $1.569 Wednesday, compared to $1.5779 at close Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was at 107.965 Wednesday from 107.33 Tuesday.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index closed 0.97 percent higher at 13,312.93. London's FTSE gained 85.80 or 1.6 percent to close at 4,559.90.