NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes rose Wednesday after a steep two-day drop as international leaders scrambled to save a week-old plan to prevent a financial crisis in Europe. Strong corporate earnings and a bump up in hiring by private companies also helped turn markets around.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 115 points, or 1 percent, to 11,775 as of 1:45 p.m. Eastern. The Dow lost 573 points the previous two days after the brokerage MF Global collapsed and Greece's prime minister surprised markets and his own government with a call to put unpopular austerity measures to a public vote.

"It's crazy how much the markets dropped in two days, considering that the data of the U.S. economy has actually looked pretty good," said Barry Knapp, head of equity strategy at Barclay's Capital. "It just shows you how fragile the investor psychology is with Greece hanging over everything."