What happened on the markets on Wednesday

In Asian Equity Markets  Chinese stocks rallied on Thursday after the securities regulator banned shareholders with large stakes in listed firms from selling, in Beijing's most drastic step yet to stem a sell-off that has roiled global financial markets. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen jumped 5.8 percent in morning trading, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 5.3 percent. Both had tumbled around 6-7 percent on Wednesday.  The Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent to 19,855.50 after falling as much as 3.2 percent to 19,115.20 in the morning. The Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent to 19,855.50 after falling as much as 3.2 percent to 19,115.20 in the morning.

In Currency Markets the yen surrendered some of its gains on Thursday as a smidgen of stability returned to recently volatile Chinese stock markets, and investors locked in gains after the Japanese currency's biggest one-day rally against the greenback this year. The dollar was up 0.4 percent at 121.21 yen, after tumbling 1.5 percent on Wednesday to suffer its biggest drop since December. It fell as far as 120.410 yen as investors unwound short positions amid a slump in global equities triggered by panic selling in Chinese stocks. The euro was up 0.5 percent at 134.30 yen, recovering from a six-week low of 133.315 yen touched on Wednesday. The euro was steady on the day at $1.1079, well off a one-month trough of $1.0916 plumbed on Tuesday.

In Commodities Markets crude oil prices bounced on Thursday on strong economic data from Japan and Germany, and as Chinese stocks picked up after the government launched new steps to stop a rout in its share markets. Front-month U.S. crude futures were up 91 cents at $52.56 per barrel, but remain almost 7.5 percent lower than the end of last week. Brent crude was around 80 cents higher at $57.84 a barrel, though still 4 percent below last Friday. Demand for oil was also supported by the return from maintenance of a 120,000-barrels per day crude distillation unit in Japan, where machinery orders hit a 7-year high in May. But analysts said the oil market remained under pressure and that big gains were unlikely.

In US Equity Markets stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday as market turmoil in China eclipsed Greece's debt crisis, while the New York Stock Exchange suffered a major outage. The S&P 500 lost 34.65 points, or 1.66 percent, to 2,046.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 87.70 points, or 1.75 percent, to 4,909.76. All 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the materials index down 2.17 percent. So far in 2015, the S&P 500 is down 0.6, while the Dow has lost 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq is up 3.7 percent. Unofficially kicking off second-quarter earnings season, Alcoa was up 0.5 percent in extended trade after its second-quarter EPS missed analyst estimates and revenue beat estimates.