US stocks rose as investors welcomed talk that debt-burdened Greece could get help from the European Union, while broker comments lifted shares of industrial companies, including Dow component Caterpillar Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 150.25 points, or 1.52 percent, to 10,058.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 13.78 points, or 1.30 percent, to 1,070.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 24.82 points, or 1.17 percent, to 2,150.87.

European shares fell in morning trade after the European Central Bank said its President Jean-Claude Trichet is changing his plans to leave Australia and return to Europe purely because of logistics, but they inched upwards later on.

Earlier, officials at the Reserve Bank of Australia and the ECB said Trichet was cutting short a working visit to Australia so that he could attend a special European Union summit on the economy in Brussels this Thursday. It had raised expectations about a rescue for Greece.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares added 0.17 percent at 980.96 points.

Japan's Nikkei stock average edged down to a two-month closing low, with heightened concerns about the euro zone's sovereign debt woes continuing to eat away at investor confidence.

Toyota Motor Corp, whose shares have lost about a fifth of their value since late January, rose on short-covering with investors welcoming signs it was taking steps to deal with its safety problems. The automaker announced a recall of the Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems.

Risk aversion has increased on concerns about the fiscal stability of Greece, Portugal and Spain, while investors remain wary about a host of other factors including speculation that China may take further tightening steps before a week-long holiday next week.

"There's a lot of concerns out there -- the euro zone issues, the chance of limits on US bank risk taking, and worries about Chinese credit tightening," said Norihiro Fujito, general manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

"This is creating an atmosphere that counters any potential boost from Japanese earnings."

• European governments agree to help Greece: source