NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied for a second day in a row on Wednesday, with all the major indices registering solid gains.

"There's a lot of nice follow-through from yesterday. On Monday there was a growth scare, and on Tuesday we recovered from that. Investors realized it was an over-reaction," Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance told Reuters Thomson Wednesday.

"Today is a continuation from yesterday showing that although global growth may be impacted in the short run, we ultimately are still on a recovery path, and it makes sense to stay long the market."

Technology stocks led the charge on Wednesday with the Nasdaq Composite gaining 133.08 points or 0.92 percent to close at 14,631.95.

The Dow Jones industrials racked up 286.01 points or 0.83 percent to 34,798.00.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 35.63 points or 0.82 percent to 4,358.69.

The U.S. dollar eased after several days of strong gains. The commodity currencies fared best. The euro was grudgingly higher at 1.1799. The British pound added half a cent to 1.3719. The Japanese yen was unchanged at 110.26. The Swiss franc firmed to 0.9174.

The Canadian dollar was sharply higher at 1.2566. The Australian dollar shot higher to 0.359 after touching a year's low earlier at 0.7288. The New Zealand dollar was in demand at 0.6971.

Equity markets in Europe and the UK mirrored gains made on Wall Street. The CAC 40 in Paris jumped 1.85 percent. In Germany, the Dax rose 1.36 percent. London's FTSE 100 climbed 1.70 percent.

On Asian markets, stocks generally made gains on Wednesday.

The only exception was the Hong Kong market where the Hang Seng retreated 34.67 points or 0.13 percent to 27,224.58.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 159.84 points or 0.53 percent to close at 27,548.00 Wednesday.

China's Shanghai Composite gained 25.87 points or 0.73 percent to 3,562.66.

The Australian All Ordinaries rose 55.10 points or 0.73 percent to 7,580.90.