Markets rise, S&P 500 expected to advance further by year end

Markets rose on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.9 percent.

Earlier in Asia, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 percent and the Hang Seng jumped 3.9 percent after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she would scrap an extradition bill that sparked months of protests in the city.

Oil rose. West Texas Intermediate crude surged 4.3 percent and Brent jumped 4.2 percent.

The Federal Reserve's beige book released on Wednesday showed that, overall, the US economy expanded at the same “modest pace” seen in earlier reports this year as a majority of business owners “remain optimistic about the near-term outlook”.

Wall Street also remains relatively optimistic, with the 17 top stock prognosticators tracked by CNBC’s Market Strategist Survey expecting the S&P 500 to rise 2.2 percent from current levels on average by the end of the year.