Sawt Falasteen - Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble

Both the Dow and S&P 500 rocketed to fresh records behind gains in technology shares such as Apple and Amazon, both of which piled on more than one percent. Analysts characterized the move as a "buy-the-dip" bounce after weakness in recent sessions.

Florida residents fled -- or defied warnings and tried to take shelter -- Wednesday in the final hours before Hurricane Milton, a lethal Category 4 storm, roars out of the ocean and tears across the state.

Despite worries over Milton and the protracted conflict in the Middle East, "the market didn't seem bothered today," Briefing.com said.

Fed minutes showed a divided group of policy makers, belying a one-sided vote last month for a large interest rate cut.

Financial markets were looking ahead to Thursday's consumer price index report, expected to influence future Fed actions.

Earlier, Shanghai slumped 6.6 percent, giving back some of the gains after Beijing announced major measures last month to stimulate its economy.

A much-anticipated news conference in Beijing on Tuesday -- after the Golden Week break -- left traders disappointed as officials refused to unveil more stimulus and provided scant detail on the measures already pledged.

"When the market's expectations were set sky-high for a 2-3 trillion yuan stimulus package and instead got hit with a big, fat zero, the party was over before it even began," said Stephen Innes, a partner at SPI Asset Management.

Investors are now awaiting a Saturday briefing on fiscal policy by Finance Minister Lan Fo'an for more indications about official plans.

But analysts warned there was unlikely to be the big "bazooka" stimulus akin to the support seen during the global financial crisis.

Shehzad Qazi at China Beige Book said Beijing was "opting for targeting stimulus -- including allocating funds for projects previously announced".

Hong Kong's stock market had soared more than 20 percent between the first batch of announced measures in late September and the start of this week.

The Hang Seng Index collapsed more than nine percent on Tuesday -- its worst day since 2008 -- and shed another one percent Wednesday.

Elsewhere, the dollar climbed against its main rivals on expectations that interest rate differentials will continue to favour the US currency.

- Key figures around 2040 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 42,512.00 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.7 percent at 5,792.04 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 18,291.62 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 8,243.74 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,560.09 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 19,254.93 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 6.6 percent at 3,258.86 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 20,637.24 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 39,277.96 (close)

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $73.24 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $76.58 per barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0940 from $1.0980 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3062 from $1.3104

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.35 yen from 148.20 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.72 pence from 83.79 pence

B.Khalifa--SF-PST