U.S. stocks surge with global shares

U.S. stocks traded sharply higher in the morning session Wednesday, as Wall Street cheered over a strong rebound in overseas stock markets.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 161.38 points, or 1.01 percent, to 16,210.51. The S&P 500 moved up 23.07 points, or 1.22 percent, to 1,907.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 68.63 points, or 1.52 percent, to 4,585.95.

In Asia, Japanese stocks surged 2.70 percent on Wednesday, as investors moved to reclaim Tuesday's steep losses amid speculation that a surprise downturn in Japanese industrial production may push the Bank of Japan closer to further monetary easing.

Chinese shares closed higher on Wednesday, the last trading day before the country's National Day holiday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.48 percent.

European equities also traded drastically higher Wednesday following a positive lead from Asia overnight, with French benchmark index CAC 40 leaping about 3 percent.

On the economic front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 200,000 jobs from August to September, beating market consensus of 190,000, according to the September ADP National Employment Report released Wednesday.

The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the nonfarm payrolls report due Friday.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Business Barometer declined 5.7 points to 48.7 in September, well below market estimates, according to the ISM-Chicago Business Survey Wednesday.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks closed mixed following the previous day's plunge, as the International Monetary Fund warned of slower economic growth for commodity exporters over the 2015-2017 period. Endit