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M. Continuo

Oil and China optimism lifts Wall St. at open


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose at the open on Wednesday after a sell-off the previous session left indexes at 12-year lows, with a jump in the price of oil and other commodities spurring energy and natural resource stocks.

    Investor optimism was also buoyed by news suggesting China, the world's third-largest economy, may be on the brink of recovery, while a rebound in Asian and European stocks added to the positive tone.

    U.S. private sector job losses accelerated in February, according to a report by ADP Employer Services that came in worse than economists' expectations. ADP said private employers cut 697,000 jobs versus a revised 614,000 in January, for the biggest loss since the report's 2001 launch.

    The Dow Jones industrial average gained 106.73 points, or 1.59 percent, to 6,832.75. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 10.80 points, or 1.55 percent, to 707.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 19.73 points, or 1.49 percent, to 1,340.74.

    (Editing by James Dalgleish)