A sharp rebound in crude prices lifted stocks on Wall Street on Wednesday in a late rally, but a gauge of equities across the globe closed lower on lingering concerns over economic growth.
Crude turned higher after data showed US gasoline demand spiked and the S&P 500 climbed steadily after that, ending 2 per cent above its session low.
"You have a tremendous amount of underperformance out there in the hedge fund community," said Ian Winer, director of trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "When the market starts to turn, it starts to feed on itself because people can't afford to miss out on a rally."
Other assets, like Treasuries and gold, reversed course after the bounce in crude.
"As much as it frustrates people, the reality is (oil and equities) are incredibly highly correlated and they have been really going back to November," said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 53.21 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 16,484.99, the S&P 500 gained 8.53 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 1,929.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 39.02 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 4,542.61.
The 14-day correlation between the S&P 500 and US crude stands at 0.93, just below the 3-1/2 year high hit earlier this month.
The bounce in the S&P contrasted with a fall in European stocks, which were weighed by energy and commodity sector names. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index fell 2.3 per cent and MSCI's gauge of stocks globally fell 0.5 per cent.
Nikkei futures jumped 0.9 per cent.
Oil rebounds
Government data showed US crude oil stockpiles rose 3.5 million barrels in the United States last week to an all-time peak. But the increased gasoline demand over the past four weeks and a drop in inventories helped push crude futures higher.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 3.7 per cent to $34.50 a barrel. US crude added 1.1 per cent to $32.23.
The turn in oil and stocks pushed yields on the lowest-risk government bonds sharply higher, with prices ending the day slightly in the red.
Benchmark 10-year US notes were last off 2/32 in price to yield 1.7501 per cent. At their session low the yield was 1.647 per cent.
In currency markets, the yen, which had been initially bid up on its safe-haven appeal, ended the day above 112, little changed against the US dollar. It earlier reached an almost three-year high against the euro of 123.43 yen.
Sterling hit a seven-year low versus the dollar of $1.3876 on concerns Britons might vote to leave the European Union in a June referendum. It last traded down 0.7 per cent at $1.3924.
The euro dipped 0.1 per cent versus the greenback to $1.1008. The dollar index was flat.
Copper slipped 0.1 per cent to $4,641.85 a tonne.
Spot gold retreated from major gains earlier in the day, last trading up 0.2 per cent. It had risen as much as 2.1 per cent.