U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as better than expected signs for the employment environment calmed investors' jitters ahead of the government's Friday payrolls report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 44.05 points, or 0.41%, to 10680.43. Merck was among the Dow's top performers with a gain of 37 cents, or 1.1%, to 35.19.

The drug giant said the addition of its experimental hepatitis C drug to standard treatment improved patient outcomes in two clinical trials, compared with standard treatment alone.

The company said it planned to submit the drug, boceprevir, for regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe this year.

Among the Dow's other advancers, DuPont increased 98 cents, or 2.4%, to 42.41, Walt Disney climbed 62 cents, or 1.8%, to 34.83, and Pfizer rose 28 cents, or 1.7%, to 16.44. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 20.05, or 0.88%, to 2303.57.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 6.78, or 0.61%, to 1127.24, with the consumer discretionary sector leading the climb.

The gains followed reports of a bigger than expected increase in private sector jobs last month and expansion in the nonmanufacturing sector that was lifted by improving employment.

European market

European shares posted modest gains Wednesday, as U.S. data helped alleviate worries about economic growth and offset losses in the banking sector. After trading with losses for much of the session, the Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.04% to 262.17.

Data out in the European afternoon showed that the U.S. ISM services index rose to 54.3 in July and private sector jobs increased by 42,000. Of the major regional benchmarks, Germany's DAX index gained 0.4% to 6,331.33 points.

Shares of German sportswear retailer Adidas edged up 0.7%. The firm's second quarter net profit soared to EUR126 million, from EUR9 million in the year earlier period, and it increased its full-year outlook. France's CAC-40 index rose 0.4% to 3,760.72.

Shares of banking group Societe Generale added 0.7%, as its second-quarter net profit more than tripled to EUR1.08 billion.

Shares of Electricite de France climbed 5.5%. The French government said late Tuesday that it plans to increase regulated electricity tariffs.

On the negative side, the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 5,386.16, led lower by the retail sector.

Shares of clothing and home ware retailer Next PLC dropped 7.7%. It said that there has been a noticeable cooling in retail demand and consumers remain cautious although it expects fiscal year pre-tax profit to meet guidance.

Asian market

Asian shares ended mixed Wednesday with a strong Japanese yen dragging on exporters in Tokyo. Recent weak economic data out of the U.S. raised concerns that the Federal Reserve might loosen monetary policy more, and possibly cause the greenback to plunge further against the yen.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 2.1% at 9,489.3, South Korea's Kospi Composite fell 0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.4% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite climbed 0.4%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 17 points in screen trade. Sony Corp lost 3.0%, Canon Inc slid 4.3%, Tokyo Electron was 5.0% lower.

Auto makers were also down with Toyota Motor off 1.6% and Honda Motor 2.2% lower.

China stocks ended on a positive note with gains in auto makers and gold miners outweighing inflation concerns and Wall Street's fall overnight.

Commodities and base metals

Copper rose to a three month high in a late afternoon rally on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday, paring early losses due to positive U.S. economic data and a rebound in equity markets.

Bullish technical indicators also drew buyers into the market, giving fresh life to a two week rally that had started to lose momentum.

Copper rose to a high of $7,527 a metric ton and closed 1.1% higher. Zinc, lead and aluminum all rose to three month highs as well.

Crude futures ended slightly lower Wednesday as a stronger dollar, encouraging economic data and rising U.S. fuel supplies offered conflicting signals to the oil market.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled 8 cents, or 0.1%, lower at $82.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange was recently down 58 cents, or 0.7%, at $82.10 a barrel.

Speculation about further easing of U.S. monetary policy and the chance of an increase in Chinese demand Wednesday pushed gold futures to their highest levels in almost three weeks.

The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, settled up $8.40, or 0.7%, at $1,195.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest closing price since July 15.