Investing.com – U.S. stock markets rose on Wednesday after a private report showed that U.S. companies in February cut the fewest number of non-farm jobs in two years.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.35%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.38% and the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.27%.
Earlier in the day, ADP Employer Services said February's 20,000 job losses followed a revised 60,000 during the previous month.
Also Wednesday, Greece announced painful new austerity measures worth EUR 4.8 billion to combat its gaping budget deficit. Worries over the debt-laden nation have hammered the euro and unsettled financial markets in recent months.
Meanwhile, stock markets in Europe also advanced: France’s CAC 40 was up 0.74%; Germany's DAX rose 0.61%; Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.55%; and the EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.88%.
The Associated Press earlier quoted Greece's prime minister, George Papandreou, as saying the decisions were "not taken out of choice but out of necessity," as he briefed the country's president on the new steps.