Investors worry that Portugal or even significantly larger countries such as Spain may be next in line for emergency aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund following the rescues of Greece and Ireland last year. The ongoing debt crisis has prompted EU officials to propose increasing the 440 billion-euro rescue fund.

In trading in New York, the euro rose to $1.3029 from $1.2970 late Tuesday. The euro has slid about 10 percent since early November as investor fears intensified about government debt defaults and bailouts in Europe.

The dollar was mostly lower against other currencies around the world as stocks rose. Investors sometimes bet against the dollar, considered a “safe haven” currency, when they feel more confident about the health of the global economy. Instead, they buy currencies of countries that have higher interest rates, which can generate bigger returns.

The British pound rose to $1.5658 from $1.5600, while the dollar rose to 83.35 Japanese yen from 83.27 yen. Against a group of six major currencies, however, the dollar fell 0.5 percent.

In other trading, the dollar fell to 0.9709 Swiss franc from 0.9735 Swiss franc, and slid to 98.56 Canadian cents from 99.10 Canadian cents. It also slid against major Latin American currencies, the Australian dollar, the Scandinavian currencies and currencies in Asia's emerging markets.

Meanwhile, stocks rose broadly Wednesday. Financial stocks led the market higher after an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities issued a report saying bank earnings should grow much faster than other companies this year. He also said banks were likely to distribute more of their earnings to shareholders as dividends.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. rose 2.6 percent to $44.71 after the company's CEO, Jamie Dimon, told CNBC late Tuesday that the bank hopes to raise its dividend in the second quarter.

J.P. Morgan's stock led the 30 large companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Other banks also rose. Bank of America gained 1.8 percent to $14.96. US Bancorp rose 3 percent to $26.82.

The Dow rose 101 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,772 in early afternoon trading.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 11, or 0.9 percent, to 1,286.

The Nasdaq composite rose 16, or 0.6 percent, to 2,732.

In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed up 0.61 percent to 6,050.72 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 jumped 2.15 percent to 3,945.07 points and in Frankfurt the DAX rose 1.83 percent to 7,068.78 points.

In Asian trade earlier Wednesday, Tokyo was little changed, Hong Kong jumped 1.54 percent and Shanghai added 0.62 percent while Sydney gained 0.29 percent.

ITT Corp. jumped 15 percent to $60.83 after the defense contractor said it would split itself into three publicly traded companies. ITT plans to separate its defense and information, water technology and industrial products divisions. That should make it easier for investors to understand the company's various businesses, said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist with Banyan Partners.

American International Group Inc. rose 0.9 percent to $59.55 after the company agreed to sell its stake in Taiwan's third-largest insurer for $2.16 billion. The deal is part of AIG's plan to raise money to repay the $182 billion it received in government bailout funds.

Bond prices fell, pushing their yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.41 percent from 3.34 percent late Tuesday. The yield is used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans including mortgages.