U.S. stocks mount recovery despite escalating Mideast conflict

NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street delivered a surprising performance on Wednesday, with major indices closing firmly in positive territory even as geopolitical tensions intensified following an escalation of U.S. and Israeli military operations in Iran.

The broad-based Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 52.87 points, or 0.78 percent, to settle at 6,869.50. Trading volume reached 3.176 billion shar