Major indices in the US stock market rebounded to close higher Thursday, recovering from losses as the Federal Reserve prepares to hike interest rates in the coming months. 

Despite plummeting around 300 points earlier, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average was up 87 points, or 0.25%, to close at 34,583.

The S&P 500 rose 19 points, or 0.43%, to end at 4,500.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 8 points, or 0.06%, to finish at 13,897.

Earlier losses came after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed needs to raise its benchmark interest rate to 3.5% and the central bank's current policy rate is "too low by about 300 basis points."

Fed officials support one or more 50 basis point interest rate increases at future meetings if inflation remains high or keeps climbing, according to minutes released on Wednesday.

At the final bell, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, was down 2.5% to 21.55.

The dollar index rose 0.22% to 99.82, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed 1.66% to 2.652%.

Precious metals were on the rise, with gold adding 0.32% to $1,931 per ounce and silver rising 0.56% to $24.6.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading at $101.28, up 0.2%, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $96.92 -- a 0.7% gain./aa