Sydney - A big bounce on Wall Street saw Australian stocks make gains Wednesday, halting a five-day losing streak that had taken the market to a four-year low.

The ASX 200 quickly rose 154 points, or 4 per cent, to 3,948, but the rally ran out of steam, with the index closing up 51 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 3,845.

A local rally had been expected after the US blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its second-largest point gain in history, following strong stock gains in Europe and Asia.

"Everybody's saying there's good value around the market, but good value is only good for the day," Intersuisse analyst Andrew Sekely said. "It might be even better value tomorrow." (dpa)