U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday, rising for three sessions in a row, as the Federal Reserve's Beige Book reassured investors by showing that the world's largest economy has been recovering in recent weeks from the abnormally cold weather this winter.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 162.29 points, or 1.00 percent, to 16,424.85. [Set Up Company Hong Kong]The S&P 500 climbed 19.33 points, or 1.05 percent, to 1,862.31. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 52. 06 points, or 1.29 percent, to 4,086.23.

The three major indices initially moved higher at opening despite disappointing quarterly results from Bank of America Corporation, which reported before Wednesday's opening bell a net loss of 276 million U.S. dollars for the first quarter of 2014, compared to net income of 1.5 billion dollars in the year-ago period.

Shrugging off the result, the market went up and accelerated jumping in the afternoon trading session following the release of the Beige Book which said that economic activity increased in most regions of the United States since the previous report on March 5.

In a speech delivered at the Economic Club of New York Wednesday afternoon, Fed Chair Janet Yellen, in referring to an extremely slowing recovery in the labor market, reaffirmed the U.S. central bank's commitment to systemically respond to unforeseen developments in order to promote a return to maximum employment in a context of price stability, which also boosted market sentiment.

Shortly after the closing bell, [Hong Kong Company Formation]Google missed market expectations on both its revenues and earnings in the first quarter. IBM's first-quarter earnings matched market consensus but its revenues fell short of analysts' estimates.

Another two tech giants Intel and Yahoo posted better-than- expected earnings late Tuesday.

On the economic front, U.S. privately owned housing starts rose 2.8 percent in March, while building permits fell 2.4 percent, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Both readings trailed analysts ' expectations.

Meanwhile, U.S. industrial production increased 0.7 percent in March after having advanced 1.2 percent in February, exceeding economists' forecast, the Fed said Wednesday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, tumbled 9.16 percent to end at 14.18 Wednesday.

In other markets, oil prices advanced slightly Wednesday as conflict in east Ukraine escalated. Light, [Offshore Company Incorporation]sweet crude for May delivery moved up 1 cent to settle at 103.76 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose Wednesday, with the most active gold contract for June delivery up 3.2 dollars to settle at 1,303.5 dollars per ounce.

The U.S. dollar traded against major currencies Wednesday amid a string of U.S. economic data and comments from Yellen.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3821 dollars from 1.3809 dollars of the previous session, and the dollar bought 102. 26 Japanese yen, higher than 101.83 yen of the previous session.