Global Stocks: U.S. indices climbed over the session, but fell over the quarter

U.S. stock indices rose on Wednesday, but posted their worst quarterly results since 2011.

In the third quarter investors were concerned about signs of slowing economic growth in China. At the same time the Federal Reserve postponed a rate hike adding uncertainty to the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.57 points, or 1.5%, to 16,284.70 (-1.5% over the month and -7.6% over the quarter). The S&P 500 rose 35.94, or 1.9%, to 1,920.03 (-2.6% over the month and -6.9% over the quarter). The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 102.84, or 2.3%, to 4,620.16.

A report by the Automatic Data Processing showed that the pace of employment improved in September and exceeded expectations. The number of employed rose by 200,000 compared to +186,000 in August, while analysts had expected a 194,000 increase.

This morning in Asia the Nikkei rose 2.29%, or 397.82, to 17,785.97. Markets in China and Hong Kong are on holiday.

Japanese stocks advanced amid gains in U.S. equities and a weaker yen despite mixed data from the Bank of Japan. BOJ Tankan Manufacturing index declined to 12 in the third quarter vs 13 expected and 15 reported previously. Meanwhile the corresponding non-manufacturing index climbed to 25 in Q3 vs 20 expected and 23 prev.

The latest data also showed that China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) climbed to 49.8, beating expectations of 49.6 and compared with a result of 49.7 in August. However the final Caixin/Markit PMI fell to a fresh six-and-a-half-year low of 47.2 in September, vs a preliminary estimate of 47.