US stocks closed higher on Wednesday as better-than-expected ADP jobs report buoyed investor sentiment..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 71.60 points, or 0.58%, to finish at 12,350.61. The S&P 500 advanced 8.82 points, or 0.67%, to close at 1,328.26. The Nasdaq Composite rose 19.90 points, or 0.72%, to 2,776.79.
ADP survey on Wednesday reported that private-sector employers added 201,000 jobs in March, matching estimates.
Shares of Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) rallied $7.09, or 5.57%, to close at $134.49.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s (NYSE: COG) jumped $2.67, or 5.26%, to $53.39 after President Barack Obama announced a plan to cut U.S. reliance on oil imports that includes support for natural-gas vehicles.
Shares of Universal Travel Group’s (NYSE: UTA) plunged $1.06, or 19.67%, to $4.33 after the Chinese travel-services provider delayed its fiscal 2010 conference call and the release of its financial statements to an unspecified date.
European stocks closed up. The UK FTSE rose 16.13 points, or 0.27% to 5,948.30. The German DAX and French CAC increased 1.77% and 0.92% respectively.
Asian stocks finished lsolidly higher. The Nikkei 225 gained 249.71 points or 2.64% to 9,708.79. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong jumped 391.07 points or 1.70% to 23,451.43.
Full Disclosure: None.
