By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks retained about half of
Wednesday's strong gains after the Federal Reserve held interest
rates as is and data had companies adding more jobs than expected
in October.
Wall Street also weighed reports related to the European Union
and Greek prime minister's decision to hold a national vote on a
rescue plan for the nation.
"An EU official is saying Greece will get no more money until
there is clarity on where they stand on the bailout," noted Peter
Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
While not making any further moves to ease monetary policy, Fed
policy makers said in a statement that the economy has improved,
although significant downside risks remain.
"While much of November's statement is identical to September's,
the FOMC [Federal Open Market Committee] is clearly inching towards
easing further," noted Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at
BTIG LLC.
"Today's press conference is going to shed some light on this
subject in terms of how universal is the belief that what ails the
economy can be aided by further steps from the FOMC," Greenhaus
added of Bernanke's news conference slated for 2:15 p.m.
Eastern.
After rising nearly 220 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) was lately up 137.55 points to 11,795.51, with all but four
of its 30 components in the green.
The blue-chip benchmark lost 573 points -- nearly 4.7% -- in the
prior two sessions.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) rose 13.75 points to 1,232.03, with
financials leading gains that included all 10 of its major industry
groups.
MasterCard Inc. (MA) shares gained 6.3% after the payments
processor reported quarterly results that exceeded Wall Street's
expectations.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) added 15.54 points to 2,622.50.
For every stock that fell, nearly four rose on the New York
Stock Exchange, where 438 million shares traded as of 1:45 p.m.
Eastern.
U.S. stocks started the session sharply higher after Automatic
Data Processing (ADP) reported U.S. companies added 110,000 workers
in October, with the bulk of the increase in private payrolls
coming in the service sector. ADP also revised higher its count for
September.
"The labor market is in better shape than we thought two months
ago, which is good news for the economy, corporate earnings and the
stock market," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at
Federated Investors.
European leaders planned emergency talks with Greek Prime
Minister George Papandreou in France, a day before the Group of 20
summit.
Papandreou rattled global markets earlier this week by calling
for a national vote on Europe's bailout package for the
country.