Wall Street saw a surprising recovery, with major indices closing in positive territory despite an escalating Mideast conflict. The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced by 0.78 percent to settle at 6,869.50, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 238.14 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 48,739.41. The Nasdaq Composite also saw a surge of 290.79 points to finish at 22,807.48 on heavy trading volume. Foreign exchange markets showed mixed performance, with the US dollar softening against commodity-linked currencies and the Japanese yen, but managing to hold ground against European rivals. The Australian dollar surged 0.61 percent to 0.7075 and the New Zealand dollar led the major currencies higher with a gain of 0.88 percent. Meanwhile, major Canadian and European benchmarks posted solid gains, while Asian stock markets saw steep losses amid concerns over regional economic issues.