- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
Stocks rally on China action, Ukraine hopes
Global stocks rallied on Wednesday, buoyed by Ukraine peace hopes and China's pledge to help stabilise markets after recent routs.
Optimism over talks between Russia and Ukraine also drove the benchmark international oil contract, Brent, back under $100, analysts said.
Investors will later turn their attention to a keenly-awaited US Federal Reserve decision on raising interest rates later Wednesday to fight decades-high inflation.
Frankfurt, Paris and Milan stock markets closed more than three percent higher while London's FTSE 100 finished up 1.6 percent.
Wall Street was sharply higher at around midday.
Hong Kong's main equities index closed up more than nine percent after Chinese state media said authorities would maintain capital market stability and adopt measures to handle risks for troubled property developers.
The news lit a fire under the Hang Seng Index, where mainland Chinese tech firms had been reeling from a sell-off this year fuelled by a government crackdown on the sector and fears about possible US sanctions if China were to help Russia in its war with Ukraine.
The decision to lock down the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen to fight Covid-19 had compounded the crisis for the sector.
The Hang Seng Tech Index soared by a record of more than 20 percent.
Analysts said market sentiment was lifted by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky saying Tuesday that NATO membership was not on the table, in an apparent concession to Moscow.
"Today has delivered a double-whammy of gifts for embattled markets," said Chris Beauchamps, chief market analyst at IG.
"First the Chinese deputy PM hints at economic stimulus, providing a huge bounce for stocks there and giving the rest of the world hope that a sizeable economic package is on the way," he said.
"As if that wasn't enough, the Russians and Ukrainians appear to be making some progress towards a deal, including a ceasefire and Ukraine halting any lingering efforts to join NATO."
On Wednesday, however, Kyiv rejected Russian demands to impose neutrality on Ukraine, and Zelensky demanded the United States and its NATO allies impose a no-fly zone in an address to the US Congress.
"The positive disposition is being attributed to reports that Russia and Ukraine may be making progress toward some compromises," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
"Everyone has heard this before only to be subsequently disappointed with headlines later in the day that dispel such notions," he said.
- Oil back under $100 -
Elsewhere, Brent seesawed above and under $100 in volatile trading.
"Oil prices are continuing to fall in the middle of the week as progress in talks between Ukraine and Russia see crude premiums being eroded," said OANDA market analyst Craig Erlam.
Fresh Covid lockdowns in China have also triggered demand concerns for the world's biggest importer of the commodity.
Hopes for an Iran nuclear deal -- which could see the country restart oil exports -- have additionally weighed on prices.
The International Energy Agency cut its 2022 oil demand outlook and warned that sanctions on Russia could spark a global supply "shock".
At the London Metal Exchange, meanwhile, nickel resumed trading after being suspended for more than a week but its return was disrupted by an IT glitch.
Nickel, used in stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries, had spiked on March 8 to a then-record high of $101,365 per tonne on a bad bet from a Chinese billionaire after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
- Key figures around 1700 GMT -
New York - DOW: UP 0.7 percent at 33,772.30 points
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.6 percent at 7,291.68 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 3.8 percent at 14,440.74 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 3.7 percent at 6,588.64 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 4.1 percent at 3,889.69
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 9.1 percent at 20,087.50 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.6 percent at 25,762.01 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 3.5 percent at 3,170.71
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $99.18 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $96.54 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0995 from $1.0951 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3102 from $1.3036
Euro/pound: UP at 83.93 pence from 83.92 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 118.57 yen from 118.33 yen
J.V.Jacinto--PC