Stocks rebound after recent loss
NEW YORK - U.S. stocks rebounded Wednesday, recovering a significant portion of yesterday's losses. The Dow Jones industrial average added 293.03 points, or 1.8 percent, to close at 16,351.38; it had lost almost 470 points the day before. The Nasdaq composite rose 113.87 points, or 2.5 percent, to 4,749.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 35.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,948.86
NEW YORK - U.S. stocks rebounded Wednesday, recovering a significant portion of yesterday's losses.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 293.03 points, or 1.8 percent, to close at 16,351.38; it had lost almost 470 points the day before. The Nasdaq composite rose 113.87 points, or 2.5 percent, to 4,749.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 35.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,948.86
The major Wall Street indexes have been bouncing around sharply the last few weeks following signs of weakness in China and uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Triple-digit moves in the Dow have been an almost daily occurrence in the last month.
"Investors should expect more volatility," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott. "The market needs to work through this correction, and that could take weeks, or maybe months."
Though China remains a dominant force in traders' minds, investors turned their attentions toward domestic economic issues.
On Wednesday, a private survey showed U.S. businesses added jobs at a steady pace last month, with solid gains in construction and manufacturing. Payroll processor ADP said businesses added 190,000 jobs in August, up from 177,000 in July but below a six-month high in June of 231,000.
The ADP report comes two days before Friday's release of August jobs data from the Department of Labor. Economists are forecasting that U.S. employers created 220,000 jobs in August, and that the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent.
It will be the last jobs report Federal Reserve policymakers have before their next meeting. Some economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in close to a decade after the meeting.
In foreign financial markets, China remained a focus. The Shanghai composite index opened more than 4 percent lower, but turned positive by midday and eventually ended the day down just 0.2 percent. The volatile trading led some analysts to suspect Beijing was intervening to support share prices before a two-day holiday.
Tracking Chinese shares, other Asian benchmarks swung between gains and losses. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 1.2 percent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4 percent.
European markets closed modestly higher. Germany's DAX rose 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 rose 0.3 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent.
Oil ended a choppy day higher after an Energy Department report showed a decline in fuel supplies, which suggests rising demand. U.S. crude rose 84 cents to close at $46.25 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose 94 cents to close at $50.50 a barrel in London.
In other fuel trading, wholesale gasoline rose 2.9 cents to close at $1.425 a gallon, heating oil rose 3.1 cents to $1.609 a gallon, and natural gas fell 5.4 cents to $2.648 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In metals trading, gold edged down $6.20 to $1,133.60 an ounce, silver slipped 5 cents to $14.66 an ounce, and copper rose 3 cents to $2.33 a pound.
