US stocks tick up as oil rebounds

US stocks reversed early sharp losses to end higher as signs of stabilization in oil prices soothed anxious investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.21 points, or 0.32 percent, to 16,484.99 on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The S&P 500 added 8.53 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,929.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 39.02 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,542.61.

Oil prices pared early deep losses to close higher Wednesday, with Brent crude jumping over 3 percent, as data showed U.S. gasoline demand rose 5.2 percent over the past four weeks compared with a year ago.

The West Texas Intermediate for April delivery moved up $0.28 to settle at $32.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery climbed $1.14 to close at $34.41 a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

The volatility in oil prices has dominated market sentiment recently.

After tumbling about 18 percent since the beginning of the year, US oil has been traded around $30 a barrel recently amid persistent worries about a global supply glut.

Overseas, Chinese shares ended higher after volatile trading on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.88 percent to close at 2,928.9 points.

European equities suffered big losses on Wednesday amid weak earnings reports. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange plunged 2.64 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index lost 1.60 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 1.24 percent to end at 20.72 Wednesday.

In other markets, the US dollar traded mixed against other major currencies Wednesday as the economic data from the country came out worse than expected.

In the late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1013 from $1.1014 in the previous session, while the dollar bought 111.77 Japanese yen, lower than 112.00 yen of the previous session.