On Wednesday, US stocks opened the third quarter with a sharp rally but the averages finished well off session highs as caution prevailed ahead of Thursday's jobs report.  The markets opened strongly with the Dow Jones industrial average shooting up 133 points before paring some gains to close up 57 points, or 0.7%, to 8,504.06.  The Nasdaq added 11 points, or 0.6%, to 1,845.72 and the broader S&P 500 index edged up 4 points, or 0.4%, to 923.33.  A better-than-expected report on Chinese manufacturing and General Mills' (NYSE:GIS) solid quarterly earnings also helped sentiments on the Street as investors shrugged off a report from ADP which showed companies in the US cut 473,000 jobs in June.  

US stocks had declined Tuesday after an unexpected decline in consumer confidence sparked a sell off, but the S&P 500 index managed to end the quarter with a 15.2% gain, its best

* General Mills (NYSE:GIS) reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings of 86 cents per share, ex-items, besting estimates by 5 cents, versus 53 cents a share a year earlier, as net sales improved 5% y/y to $3.6 billion on strong sales of its cereal and dough products.  The company said it expects full-year earnings of $4.20 to $4.25 a share

* Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) new Bing browser gained market share from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), during its first month of operation, surpassing Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) as the number two search engine

* Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) said it is terminating its late-stage drug trial of Sutent, for first-time treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer

* AMAG Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMAG) announced FDA approval of its iron deficiency drug

* Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) upgraded shares of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM) to "buy"

* Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 33 cents a share, one penny above estimates, versus 43 cents a share a year