Stocks climb into positive territory as 10-year yield bounces off record low

U.S. stocks shook off early losses to end higher Wednesday as U.S. government bond yields bounced back from fresh record lows amid continued market turbulence following the surprise Brexit vote.

The Nasdaq composite sprang 0.8%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.4%. All three indexes began the day in negative territory.

Tuesday and early Wednesday financial markets had switched back to risk-off mode, following a sharp rally last week in stocks, commodities and other so-called risk assets. Wall Street has been held back by continued concerns related to the fallout from Brexit vote, which has put tremendous downward pressure on the British pound, which hit a fresh 31-year low against the dollar Wednesday.

But stocks starting rallying back at mid-morning and the gains gained steam in the afternoon after release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting showed the central bank is in no hurry to raise interest rates. 

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That recovered a good part of the losses Tuesday when Wall Street suffered its first drop in a week.

"Traders continue to flee stocks amid global growth concerns following Britain's decision to leave the EU," Josh Selway, an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research, told clients in a research note.

The flight to so-called safe haven assets continued anew early Wednesday, with 10-year government bond yields in the U.S., Japan and the United Kingdom again hitting record lows. The 10-year Treasury sank as low as 1.323%. Gold, another perceived haven, also rallied, gaining $13 per ounce, or 1%, to $1371.70 -- its highest level since March 2014.

U.S.-produced crude was down 19 cents, or 0.4%, to $46.41 per barrel early before rebounding to rally 0.3% to $46.72.

The risk-off trade was also evident in stock markets in Europe, where a third straight day of weakness persisted. The broad Stoxx Europe 600 index was down 1.7%. The FTSE 100 in London was off 1.5%, while Germany's DAX was down 1.7% and the CAC 40 in Paris was off 1.8%.