Stocks in the United States surged nearly 4 percent on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 400 points, after central banks took action to address growing concern about the debt crisis in the euro zone.
The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank all moved to bolster financial markets by increasing the availability of dollars outside the United States.
The jump in stocks was an extension of the turmoil and volatility that have weighed on global markets concerned about sovereign debt pressures in Europe for more than a year.
Yet analysts noted that sharp gains have often failed to stick. Even with Wednesday’s jolt, the Standard Poor’s 500-stock index was down 1.4 percent for November so far and down more than 1.6 percent for the year to date. In afternoon trading, the Dow was up more than 419 points, or more than 3.6 percent. The S.P. 500 and the Nasdaq composite index each rose more than 3.5 percent.
“The markets are breathing a sigh of relief,” said Stanley A. Nabi, chief strategist for the Silvercrest Asset Management Group.
But the coordinated action also signaled that the problem had reached a crisis point, he said, and that the central banks recognized there was a “lot of danger” in letting the current situation continue.
Still, he questioned the lasting effects of the action if not followed up with steps to address the roots of the sovereign debt problems in countries like Greece and Italy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose 6 basis points, to 2.054 percent, from 1.99 percent late on Tuesday.
Ralph A. Fogel, head of investment strategy for Fogel Neale Wealth Management, said rates would probably remain very low in the bond markets.
But in equities, Mr. Fogel added, the “fear is off that there is going to be any sort of tremendous move down like there was in 2008.”
Investors and traders were also treated to a swath of economic news on Wednesday in two of the most sensitive sectors, housing and jobs. Statistics from the payroll processing company ADP showed that the economy added 206,000 jobs in November, more than consensus forecasts, while pending home sales rose 10.4 percent in October from the previous month.
Still, the economic news was considered a sideshow in the markets.
“It is all about the central banks,” Mr. Fogel said.
Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist for Mizuho Securities USA, said the economic reports provided a fresh example of how data could be inconsistent as the economy bounces along a shallow growth path.
“The apparently decisive turn in the data follows an equally decisive turn to the downside this past summer, which proved to be only temporary,” he wrote an e-mailed commentary, “and I can see no fundamental reason why the current upside breakout will be any different. Instead, I see this upturn as just one more in a series of false starts.”
The Euro Stoxx 50 closed up at 4.3 percent, and the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 4.2 percent, while the DAX index in Germany was up almost 5 percent. The FTSE 100 in London rose 3.16 percent.
On Wall Street, shares of banks, energy companies and materials providers all powered ahead by more than 4 percent.
Bank of America shares, which on Tuesday fell more than 3 percent, to $5.08, their lowest closing level since March 2009, were up more than 3 percent, at $5.24, on Wednesday.
Financial shares have come under particular pressure as the euro crisis has dragged on, and after the market closed on Tuesday, the Standard Poor’s ratings agency reduced its outlook on several big banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
The dollar fell against an index of major currencies. The euro rose to $1.3460 from $1.3317.
Binyamin Appelbaum contributed reporting from Washington.
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