Stocks in the United States made a sharp turnaround from earlier losses on Tuesday, after strong results from Home Depot.
However, Microsoft shares were weaker after an executive widely tipped to be the next boss left the company.
The Dow Jones Index was up 37 points, or 0.3%, to 12,851 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 2 points at 2902.
European shares rebounded after rumors that Spain may be close to asking for a sovereign bailout.
Global share prices were under pressure earlier after international lenders clashed over help for Greece.
The FTSE100 closed up 0.33%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.01% and the CAC-40 in Paris was up 0.56%.
The Australian 200 Index closed on Tuesday down 68 points, or 1.5%, at 4380 and the NZX 50 fell 13 points to 3970.
At 8.30am on Wednesday, the Newc Zealand dollar was trading at 82.03 US cents, 78.54 Australian cents, 51.66 pence, 65.11 yen and 0.6454 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 73.41.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US109.89 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1728.56 per ounce.
