Stocks set to continue active pace
Futures point higher on positive employment report; all eyes on Bernanke.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were poised to continue the previous session's upward pace at Wednesday's open, as investors cheered a better-than-expected employment report.
Just before the market open, Nasdaq and S&P futures were higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street.
Stocks surged Tuesday as investors hoped that the worst of the credit turmoil was over. The blue-chip Dow gained nearly 400 points, or 3.2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 3.7%.
Jobs added in March. In a survey of private sector employers released early Wednesday, businesses added jobs in March, according to payroll services company Automatic Data Processing Inc. The report showed an increase of 8,000 private sector jobs last month, instead of the decline of 45,000 private sector jobs economists were expecting, according to Briefing.com.
In February, the report showed a revised loss of 18,000 jobs, which was the first decline in the two years ADP has been tracking employment data.
The reading comes ahead of Friday's closely watched March jobs report from the Labor Department. Economists are forecasting a drop of 50,000 jobs, which would mark the third straight month of declines, with the unemployment rate rising to 5% from 4.8% in February.
Investors' attention is also focused on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who is due to testify before a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress at 9:30 a.m. ET Wednesday, to be followed by testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
In both hearings he'll talk about the Fed's role in last month's fire-sale of embattled Wall Street firm Bear Stearns (BSC, Fortune 500) to JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500). He's also likely to be questioned about proposals now being debated in Congress that would provide federal loan guarantees to help homeowners who are having trouble making their mortgage payments or facing a loan principal greater than the current value of their home.
After the opening bell Wednesday, investors will see a government reading on February factory orders. Economists are forecasting a decline of 0.8%, although that would be less than the 2.5% decline in January.
Report: National City may sell itself. In more signs of upheaval in the banking and financial sector, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that National City (NCC, Fortune 500), the embattled Ohio bank dealing with loan losses and a declining share price, is considering selling itself to rival KeyCorp (KEY, Fortune 500). National City signaled it was open to a sale Tuesday morning when it announced it is looking at strategic alternatives.
In other corporate news, Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500) said late Tuesday it ended a clinical trial for an experimental skin cancer treatment when early data showed it was not superior to standard chemotherapy. Shares of the Dow component slipped 0.4% in Frankfurt trading early Wednesday.
Electronics retailer Best Buy said a slowdown in customer traffic led to a dip in quarterly profit. Best Buy posted fourth-quarter profit that came in 3% lower than the same period last year. But the company's earnings and revenue still beat analysts' expectations.
Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) moved to end a recent rash of bad public relations when it announced that it would no longer sue a brain-damaged former employee for the trust fund set up for her care after an auto accident eight years ago.
Wal-Mart had sought $470,000 from the woman to compensate for the money spent on her medical care by the company's health plan. A $1 million court decision had set up a $417,000 trust fund for her care after legal fees. Coverage of the plight of Debbie Shank, the former employee, on CNN had prompted outrage from commentators and online petitions calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart.
Retailer Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) is due to report results ahead of the market open.
Oil prices rose ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET report on U.S. fuel inventories. A barrel of light, sweet crude gained 77 cents to $101.75 in early electronic trading.
In global trade, shares in Asia surged on Wall Street's rally. Most European markets rose in midday trading. 
