U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday, halting three consecutive days of losses for both the Dow Jones and the Standard & Poor's 500 index. In world markets, European stocks closed higher, led by the FTSE 100 in Britain rising 1.1 percent. Asian markets also ended higher, led by the Nikkei in Japan rising 1 percent. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) last month debated whether it should begin reversing policies to prevent inflation from accelerating, and most Fed officials preferred to raise interest rates before selling assets when the central bank decides to tighten monetary policy, according to notes from their April meeting released Wednesday. In U.S. company news, Computer giant Dell's shares rose 5.5 percent to $16.77 in premarket trade after the PC manufacturer reported profits late on Tuesday that exceeded expectations. The company also raised its fiscal 2012 outlook for operating income. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery rose $3.19 to $100.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $13.70 to $1,493.70 an ounce. Silver prices rose $1.59 to $35.08 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 80.6, or 0.7 percent, to 12,560.18. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.7, or 0.9 percent, to 1,340.68. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 31.79, or 1.1 percent, to 2,815.00.
