Hopes for a resolution in a prolonged trade spat between the United States and China have helped extend a week-long rally in world stock markets, while bond yields have also climbed.
European shares rose 0.6 per cent on Wednesday following broad gains in Asia. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.44 per cent.
Bond yields climbed as investors sold safe-haven government bonds in favour of riskier assets like equities.
US President Donald Trump said he could let a March 1 deadline for a trade deal with China "slide" if the two sides were not close on agreement. But he added he was "not inclined" to delay raising tariffs.
"There's still a level of uncertainty there but at least the rhetoric does not show he is digging his heels in, so the market has quite rightly taken it as a positive," Legal & General Investment Management fund manager Justin Onuekwusi said.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117.51 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 25,543.27, the S&P 500 gained 8.3 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 2,753.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 5.76 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 7,420.38.
The rise in US benchmark Treasury yields came after data showed core consumer prices rose in January. The core Consumer Price Index, excluding food and energy components, gained 0.2 per cent.
"The Fed's new reaction function is they need to see inflationary pressures before they hike again, and clearly we've seen those inflationary pressures aren't there," Mohammed Kazmi, portfolio manager at UBP in Geneva, said.
China's blue-chip CSI 300 rose around two per cent to a four-month high.
Progress on another issue unnerving markets - a deal to fund the US government and avoid another government shutdown - also provided a boost.
The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's so-called "fear gauge," dropped overnight to 14.95, its lowest since October.
Emerging market stocks faltered, trading flat on the day. Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Tuesday investors saw emerging markets as the "most crowded" trade for the first time ever.
In commodities, oil prices surged nearly two per cent.
