Roundup: U.S. stocks surge amid positive Greece news

U.S. stocks rebounded strongly Wednesday, with all the three major indices jumping over 1 percent, after reports emerged of softened stance of international creditors toward Greece, raising hopes of breaking the deadlock of debt talks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 236.36 points, or 1.33 percent, to 18,000.40. The S&P 500 gained 25.05 points, or 1.20 percent, to 2,105.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 62.82 points, or 1.25 percent, to 5,076.69.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that sources close to Chancellor Angela Merkel disclosed that Germany may be satisfied with Greece committing to at least one economic reform, prerequisites sought by creditors to release bailout funds. The news eased market fears about a looming Greek default and Grexit in coming weeks.

In another possible sign of unlocking stalled negotiations, Merkel and French President Francois Hollande expressed willingness to meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Brussels late Wednesday.

Meanwhile, some analysts believed that Wednesday's bounce in the stock market was mostly technical as both the Dow and the Nasdaq just registered a four-day losing streak on Tuesday.

A weaker dollar also provided some upward jolts to the stock market. The U.S. dollar slipped against most major currencies and fell against the Japanese yen to two-week lows on Wednesday.

The U.S. dollar slipped against most major currencies for a third consecutive session, as investors were awaiting the country' s closely-watched retail sales report due out Thursday.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1316 dollars from 1.1280 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 122.70 Japanese yen, lower than 124.35 yen of the previous session.

With no major economic data due Wednesday, investors kept a close eye on retail sales number coming out in the following session. Analysts said there is a batch of market-moving economic data before the Fed meeting next week.

Global equity indexes provider MSCI Inc. will not include China A-shares in its flagship global benchmarks index for now, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. But they will work with China's securities regulator to overcome remaining obstacles.

Chinese stocks witnessed big swings following the news on Wednesday, with Shanghai Composite Index closing 0.15 percent lower after hitting a new intraday 7-year high in the afternoon session. Meanwhile, European shares posted big gains on Greek deal hopes Wednesday, with German benchmark DAX index at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange surging 2.4 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 8.64 percent to end at 13.22 Wednesday.

In other markets, oil prices gained as government data showed that U.S. inventories dropped last week.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery moved up 1.29 U.S. dollars to settle at 61.43 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery increased 82 cents to close at 65.7 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar slipped against most major currencies and fell against the Japanese yen to two-week lows on Wednesday.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as investors began to price in an eventual interest rate increase from the U.S. central bank.

The most active gold contract for August delivery went up nine U. S. dollars, or 0.76 percent, to settle at 1,186.60 dollars per ounce. Endite