US stocks ended another tumultuous day with a big gain, partly recovering from its worst sell-off in years after the Federal Reserve said it was keeping interest rates unchanged at 2%.

Wall Street retrenched today, closing sharply lower as investors showed their cautious side and cashed in profits from the market's best week in nearly five years.

Wall Street suffered one of its worst losses of 2007 today, leading a global stock market plunge as investors succumbed to months of worry about the mortgage and corporate lending markets.

Wall Street resumed its year-end rally today, bolstered by a new report which showed consumer confidence had jumped sharply in recent weeks.