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U.S. stocks continue to rise after positive data, Fed minutes

Xinhua, January 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, extending its strong rebound in the previous session, as improvements in the labor market and a patient Federal Reserve helped Wall Street to recover from sharp selloffs at the beginning of the year.

On the economic front, the number of Americans who initially applied for jobless benefits in the week ending Jan. 3 slipped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 294,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The fresh figure came a day after payroll processor ADP's upbeat jobs report, which showed U.S. private sector employment added 241,000 new jobs in December last year, topping analysts' expectations.

Investors are looking to the Labor Department's December nonfarm payrolls report due out Friday to get a better picture of improvements in the labor market.

Moreover, investors also embraced the minutes of the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting released Wednesday, which showed most participants thought the reference to "patience" in beginning to normalize the stance of monetary policy indicated that the Fed was unlikely to begin the normalization process for at least the next couple of meetings.

Shortly after Thursday's opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 195.89 points, or 1.11 percent, to 17,780.41. The S&P 500 added 20.56 points, or 1.01 percent, to 2,046.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 45.55 points, or 0.98 percent, to 4,696.02.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks rose sharply, with the S&P 500 snapping a five-day losing streak, as U.S. crude prices steadied somewhat and positive economic data underscored the strength in the U.S. economy. Endi