Roger Volz Comments: US Stocks Surge As Manufacturing Data Trumps Jobs; DJIA Up 220 - Marketwatch

Investors sent the stock market sharply higher on Wednesday, as strong manufacturing data helped erase gloomy jobs data to kick off September on a bullish note.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 220 points, or 2.2%, at 10234 in recent trading, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 2.5% to 1075 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.7% to 2170.

The strong start to the morning follows a dismal month that saw the Dow drop 4.3%, its worst August in nearly a decade.

It comes after U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in August for the 13th straight month, with the ISM manufacturing PMI defying expectations to rise to 56.3, from 55.5 in July. The encouraging numbers were fueled by strong employment and production data.

"The fear has been that manufacturing would let us down, and that's where some of this erroneous double dip stuff came from. These numbers show we're on track--not very fast, but back to where we were before the August malaise," said Jerry Webman, chief economist and senior investment officer with OppenheimerFunds.

The speed and intensity of the morning's increase took some traders by surprise.

"The market had been prepared for really negative numbers and these levels came in as a little bit of a surprise," said Roger Volz, director at BGC Financial.

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Roger Volz Comments: US Stocks Surge As Manufacturing Data Trumps Jobs; DJIA Up 220 - Marketwatch

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