Measures taken by the Chinese government to stem the rout in that nation's stock market also appeared to be working.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 23 points, or 1.2 percent, to 2,074. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 213 points, or 1.2 percent, to 17,727.77 as of 10:04 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite gained 71 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,909.