Wednesday's afternoon trade: Wall Street rebounds

Wall Street stocks rebounded from a three-day selloff on Wednesday as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised hopes for further stimulus of the US economy if needed. The Fed's previous stimulus effort, known as QE2, had helped the stock market to advance with $600 billion in bond purchases, which added liquidity to the economy and contributed to low interest rates.
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 7.6 percent to 18.37 after the comments. Over the past three days, the VIX climbed almost 25 percent while S&P 500 lost about 2.3 percent, pressured by weak earnings and concerns over Europe's debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 124.27 points, or 1.00 percent, at 12,571.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 13.55 points, or 1.03 percent, at 1,327.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 33.64 points, or 1.21 percent, at 2,815.55.