Stocks Rebound on Fed Optimism, ADP

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday, bouncing back after a deep two-day retreat, as investors took heart from better-than-forecast October jobs data from payroll provider ADP and comments from the Federal Reserve, which noted recent improvement in the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 178.08 points, or 1.53%, to 11,836.04. The S&P 500 gained 19.62 points, or 1.61%, to 1,237.90. The Nasdaq Composite rose 33.02 points, or 1.27%, to 2,639.98.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that unemployment rates fell in 280 large metro areas from August to September. They rose in 61 and were unchanged in 31. That’s the largest number of cities to see a decline since April.

The Federal Reserve sketched a bleaker outlook Wednesday for the economy, which it thinks will grow much more slowly and face higher unemployment than it had estimated in June.

The price of oil rose Wednesday with investors focusing on upbeat news about the U.S. economy. Benchmark crude rose 32 cents to end the day at $92.51 per barrel in New York, while Brent crude lost 20 cents to finish at $109.34 a barrel in London.

News Corp. saw net income for its fiscal first quarter drop 5 percent from a year ago due to the cost of closing a scandal- wracked tabloid and dropping its takeover bid for British Sky Broadcasting. Net income in the July through September period fell to $738 million, or 28 cents per share, from $775 million, or 30 cents per share, a year ago.