Stocks rebound

Stocks rebounded Wednesday, recovering a significant portion of their losses from the day earlier. However, investors remained on edge after the latest market plunge, which was triggered by more signs of slowing growth in China. Oil prices continued to swing sharply.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 293 points, about 1.8 percent, at 16,351.4. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 35 points, about 1.8 percent, to nearly 1,949, and the Nasdaq composite rose nearly 114 points, about 2.5 percent, to nearly 4,750.

CRUDE ENERGY: As the markets closed, the price of U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 67 cents at $46.08 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil ended a choppy day higher after an Energy Department report showed a decline in fuel supplies, which suggests rising demand.

H&R BLOCK: Tax preparation company H&R Block was the biggest gainer in the S&P 500, rising $2.47, or 7.5 percent, to close at $35.42. The company reported a smaller-than-expected loss and announced a $3.5 billion stock buyback program.

ANALYST'S VIEW: "Investors should expect more volatility to come in this market," said analyst Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist for Janney Montgomery Scott. "The market needs to work through this correction, and that could take weeks, or maybe months."

CHINA TRADING: China remains in focus across financial markets. The Shanghai composite index opened more than 4 percent lower, but turned positive by midday and eventually ended the day down only 0.2 percent. The volatile trading led some analysts to suspect Beijing was intervening to support share prices heading into a two-day holiday.

JOBS, JOBS, JOBS: A private survey showed that U.S. businesses added jobs at a steady pace last month, with construction and manufacturing showing solid gains. The payroll processor ADP said businesses added 190,000 jobs last month, up from 177,000 in July, but below a six-month high set in June of 231,000.

The ADP report comes before Friday's August jobs report. Economists are forecasting that U.S. employers created 220,000 jobs in August, and that the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent.

It will be the last jobs report Federal Reserve policymakers have before their next policy meeting later this month. Some economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.