Stocks Rise After Rout

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The markets climbed on Wednesday as traders shook off concerns about Syria and rising oil prices and scooped up stocks at a discount.

Today's Markets

As of 1:40 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.7 points, or 0.51%, to 14852, the S&P 500 gained 9.2 points, or 0.58%, to 1640 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 25.8 points, or 0.72% to 3604.

The broad S&P 500 took the worst beating since June on Tuesday as worries swelled over Syria. While U.S. equities were stable in early trade, the concerns could be seen in oil markets.

The benchmark U.S. crude contract jumped $1.30, or 1.3%, to $110.42 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rallied 1.2% to $3.07 a gallon. In metals, gold rose $4.10, or 0.29%, to $1,424 a troy ounce.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales in July fell 1.3%,  much steeper than the 0.5% drop economists expected. Signed contracts to buy previously-owned homes were still up 6.7% from the year prior.The metric is seen as a leading indicator since it gauges sales before they are officially on the books.

Elsewhere, regulators were preparing to fine J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) $80 million for dealings with retail customers, according to a report by The New York Times.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 0.65% to 2731, the English FTSE 100 fell 0.55% to 6405 and the German DAX dropped 1.4% to 8125.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 sold off by 1.5% to 13338 and the Chinese Hang Seng plummeted 1.6% to 21525.