STOCKS BOUNCE BACK: Here's what you need to know

Stocks rebounded after a poor start to September, and finished the session higher on Wednesday.

Today's rally was relief from a two-day slump that saw stocks get smoked at the beginning of what's historically the worst month of the year for the market. Year-to-date, the Nasdaq is barely green (+0.3%), while the Dow is down 8%.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 16,352.18, +293.83, (1.83%)
• S&P 500: 1,948.90, +35.05, (1.83%)
• Nasdaq: 4,749.98, +113.87, (2.46%)

And now, the top stories on Wednesday:

1. The US economy is still trudging along, surrounded by a slowing world. The Federal Reserve's latest beige book, with anecdotes from its 12 districts, stated that economic activity is expanding at a modest pace. Overall, it didn't tell market participants anything that was groundbreaking, or particularly new. However, some interesting tidbits included that there were several mentions of "wage pressure", more than the prior two beige books. And, rent is flat in Manhattan but climbing in some of New York City's other boroughs including Queens and Brooklyn.
2. The Energy Information Administration reported that US crude oil inventories increased by 4.7 million barrels last week, the largest gain in five months. This followed the release from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday that showed a build by 7.6 million barrels, also a five-month high. The EIA noted that production fell to 9.22 million barrels from 9.33 million in the prior week. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was volatile throughout the day, falling as much as 4% in late-morning trade, and then staging a comeback to the green, near $46 per barrel, as the stock market close approached.
3. Private payrolls grew by 190,000 in August, which was less than economists had expected, according to ADP Research Institute. Payroll growth in July was revised down to 177,000 from 185,000. And so, not a very strong report overall, although several economists have warned against using this report as a forecaster for the official jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due Friday.
4. In other economic data, the value of new factory orders rose 0.4% in July, according to the Census Bureau. That was less than expected, although the June print was revised to 2.2% from 1.8%. And, US productivity gained at the strongest pace since Q4 2013: A 3.3% annual rate in the second quarter, according to the Labor Department. It's an indication that wage inflation may remain low for the time being.

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