Stocks ultimately rose at the end of Wednesday's choppy session as market participants digested the first U.S. presidential debate alongside further economic stimulus developments. With the major labor report for September scheduled to be issued on Friday, investors spent most of the session looking for direction amid cloudy outlook for the economic recovery, the coronavirus pandemic, and the upcoming presidential election. Market watchers warn that volatile sessions many be on the horizon as sentiment remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, two positive U.S. economic reports were released on Wednesday. ADP's employment report showed that U.S. employers added 749,000 private payrolls in September, exceeding expectations and adding to August's upwardly revised total of 481,000 added. The National Association of Realtors's report on U.S. pending homes sales also saw a jump of 8.8% in August, far exceeding the expected rise of 3.1%. This reading marked the fourth straight monthly increase for pending home sales.

For the month, major market indices did not perform all too well despite periods of gains. The Nasdaq was the biggest loser, down 5.2% due to the overall volatility of mega-cap tech shares throughout September. The Dow and the S&P 500 also slumped, with the Dow falling 2.3% and the S&P slipping 3.9%, marking its first monthly decline since March's lows.

Here's how the market settled for the mid-week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.82% or +27.43 points to 3,362.90

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +1.20% or +329.70 points to 27,782.36

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.74% or +82.26 points to 11,167.51

For Major Stock News, stocks that are poised to benefit from U.S. economic recovery were among the biggest gainers on Wednesday: Bank of America (BAC  ), Carnival Cruise (CCL  ), Citigroup (C  ), Goldman Sachs (GS  ), Norwegian Cruise (NCLH  ), Morgan Stanley (MS  ), Royal Caribbean (RCL  ), and Wells Fargo (WFC  ). Datadog (DDOG  ) popped during the session following the announcement of its new strategic partnership with Microsoft's (MSFT  ) Azure. Nikola (NKLA  ) shares also gained after the electric-truck marker reconfirmed its business plans and targets. In addition, General Motors (GM  ) announced that it will be extending its talks with Nikola for the $2 billion deal.

For Sector Performance, most industries rose with the broader market, with only Industrials -0.26% and Energy -0.24% lagging behind. The positive performance gains were as follows: Health Care +1.68%, Financials +1.24%, Consumer Staples +1.21%, Utilities +0.94%, Materials +0.92%, Information Technology +0.91%, Consumer Discretionary +0.67%, Real Estate +0.55%, and Communication Services +0.12%.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) traded flat as risk sentiment weighed against the greenback. Gold (GLD  ) slipped lower as market participants were concerned about the tentative new stimulus package. Spot gold dropped 0.3% lower to $1,892.33 per ounce, falling about 4% for September. Gold futures also settled 0.4% lower at $1,895.50 per ounce. Crude oil futures ended Wednesday's session mixed, following the U.S. Energy Information Administration's report that inventory declined by 2 million barrels for the week ended Sept. 25 when it was expected to increase. West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) soared 2.37% higher to $40.22 per barrel, while Brent Crude (BNO  ), the international benchmark, slightly fell to $40.95 per barrel.

For Thursday, investors will focus on the Labor Department's fresh data on weekly jobless claims as well as stimulus package updates.