The S&P 500 jumped 1.1 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 1.0 percent. Earlier, though, Asian markets fell, with the Nikkei 225 declining 0.7 percent.
While Italy's FTSE MIB fell 0.4 percent, investors in Europe mostly shrugged off the country's Sunday election result, where no one party won an outright majority, setting the stage for political instability.
In contrast to Italy, in Germany, the Social Democrats voted to support a coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives after five months of uncertainty.
“I see today’s rebound as more of a technical bounce,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
“We still think strong growth and robust earnings will deliver good equity returns, but the recent volatility is a sign of things to come,” said James Barty, head of global cross asset and European equity strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.