NEW YORK, New York - The U.S. stock markets again edged in and out of positive territory on Wednesday, but all major indices managed to finish in the black.

"Investors continue the tug of war between 'Should I be more worried about high inflation or the quickly deteriorating growth outlook?'" Thomas Kennedy, chief investment strategist for J.P. Morgan Global Wealth Management told Reuters Thursday. "Cross asset correlations over the last few weeks have suggested growth is the bigger worry for the market now."

The Dow Jones industrials gained 69.86 points or 0.23 percent to 31,039.63.

The Nasdaq Composite added 39,61 points or 0.35 percent to 11,361.85.

The Standard and Poor's 500 climbed 13.69 points or 0.36 percent to 3,845.08.

Foreign currencies were little changed following the sharp jump in the U.S. dollar the day before. The euro ended around 1.0183 at the New York close Wednesday. The British pound traded in a tight range around 1.1918 as Boris Johnson clung to power despite numerous calls for his resignation. The Japanese yen was little changed at 135.35. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9709.

The Canadian dollar was soft at 1.3035. The Australian dollar remained weak at 0.6783. The New Zealand dollar struggled around 0.6150.

Overseas, the biggest gainer was the CAC 40 in Paris which surged 2.03 percent. The German Dax was up 1.56 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced 1.17 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng fell 266.41 points or 1.22 percent to close Wednesday at 21,586.66.

Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 315.82 points or 1.20 percent to 26,107.65.

The Kospi Composite, in Seoul, South Korea, lost 49.77 points or 2.13 percent to 2,292.01.

China's Shanghai Composite retreated 48.68 points or 1.43 percent to 3,355.35.

The Australian All Ordinaries dropped 33.80 points or 0.50 percent to 6,784.30.

Going against the trend, the S&P/NZX 50 in New Zealand advanced 175.90 points or 1.60 percent to 11,141.07.