The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 373.05 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at 27,201.52. The S&P 500 was up 21.26 points, or 0.64 percent, to 3,327.77. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 57.23 points, or 0.52 percent, to 10,998.40.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended higher, with industrials up 1.97 percent, outpacing the rest. Utilities slid 1.25 percent, the worst-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly higher, with eight of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
On the corporate side, Disney shares surged 8.8 percent on its better-than-expected earnings. The U.S. media powerhouse reported quarterly results after Tuesday's close, with a profit of 8 cents per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations. The company also revealed it has crossed the 100 million subscriber number.
Johnson & Johnson announced it struck a deal with the U.S. government to manufacture 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The stock rose 0.8 percent.
On the data front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 167,000 jobs in July, U.S. payroll data company Automatic Data Processing reported Wednesday. The reading was far below forecasts from economists surveyed by Econoday who expected a gain of 1.9 million jobs.
Meanwhile, economic activity in the U.S. services sector grew last month, according to a report by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
The Services PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index) rose to 58.1 percent in July from the June reading of 57.1 percent, said the ISM. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a print of 55 percent.
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