U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a private-sector employment report showed an improvement from October and the S&P pushed through a key technical level.

U.S. private employers shed 169,000 jobs in November, fewer than 195,000 in October, but worse than forecasts for a decline of 155,000 jobs, according to the ADP National Employment private sector survey .

Gains on Wall Street accelerated after the S&P 500 punched through the 1,111 mark, which it has been unable to maintain in recent sessions.

Every time we've been up here this is kind of where it's stalled out and turned around, said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

It's a key point here. If we punch through, we probably take off and trade to a new higher level. If it backs off, we stay in this trading range.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 26.52 points, or 0.25 percent, to 10,498.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 4.71 points, or 0.42 percent, to 1,113.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 21.57 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,197.37.

KB Home rose 0.7 percent to $13.78 while MDC Holdings Inc added 2.4 percent $30.93 after Credit Suisse boosted its rating on the homebuilders. The Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction index <.DJUSHB> added 0.1 percent.

The Federal Reserve's periodic Beige Book survey of regional U.S. economic conditions is scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. EST.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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