Stocks rose Wednesday, with investors starting the third quarter in positive fashion, after reports on U.S. manufacturing and housing added to beliefs that the pace of the recession is slowing. Wednesday saw the release of several U.S. economic reports. U.S. manufacturing activity improved in June, the Institute for Supply Management reported. Pending home sales rose 0.1 percent in May, the National Association of Realtors said. U.S. private-sector employers cut 473,000 jobs in June, payroll firm ADP reported. Another employment report showed the number of announced job cuts fell in June for the fifth consecutive month. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery fell 58 cents to $69.31 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had risen above $70 earlier in the session after the U.S. government reported that the massive U.S. crude surplus shrank for the seventh time in eight weeks. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and gained versus the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57.06, or 0.7 percent, to 8,504.06. Twenty-four of the index's 30 components rose, led by IBM, Coca-Cola, 3M, and oil components Chevron and Exxon Mobil. Technology shares also rallied, including Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.01, or 0.4 percent, to 923.33. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 10.68, or 0.6 percent, to 1,845.72. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 48.86 to 5,954.01. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 11.35 to 1,593.37. And the Russell 2000 index rose 9.18 to 517.46.
