Roundup: U.S. stocks surge amid mixed data, rebounding oil prices

U.S. stocks jumped amid mixed data Thursday, with all the three major indices turning positive for the year, as oil prices bounced back from Wednesday's plunge.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 211.86 points, or 1.20 percent, to 17,884.88. The S&P 500 gained 21.01 points, or 1.03 percent, to 2,062.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 48.39 points, or 1.03 percent, to 4,765.10.

U.S. stock markets were bolstered by the oil prices rebound. The oil prices rallied Thursday, with U.S. crude rising more than 4 percent, after China boosted liquidity by lowering the requirements for banks' reserve ratios of cash.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery gain 2.03 U.S. dollars to settle at 50.48 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for March delivery moved up 2.41 dollars to close at 56.57 dollars a barrel.

The oil prices had witnessed wild swings recently, as investors were pondering over signs of slowing production against record- high U.S. crude stockpiles, speculating whether oil prices had bottomed out.

Investor sentiment was also encouraged by the better-than- expected jobless data. The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 278,000 in the week ending Jan. 31, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level, said the U.S. Labor Department Thursday. The initial claims for jobless benefits last week were lower than market expectations of 290,000.

However, the U.S. trade deficit for December widened sharply. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday the trade deficit jumped to 46.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 6.8 billion dollars from 39.8 billion in November. But analysts said the import number suggested that U.S. domestic demand was moderately healthy.

Overseas, the European Central Bank (ECB) increased pressure on the new Greek government to come to terms with its creditors. The ECB said it would no longer accept Greek public securities as collateral for central bank loans. The announcement came as Greece 's government seeks to ease conditions on its bailout program.

In corporate news, shares of Pfizer added 2.87 percent to 32.99 dollars apiece Thursday, as the pharmaceutical giant agreed to buy Hospira, which makes injectable drugs and infusion technologies. Hospira shareholders will receive 90 dollars a share in cash, representing a premium of 39 percent to Wednesday's closing price.

After the closing bell, Twitter reported that its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 totaled 479 million dollars, an increase of 97 percent compared to 243 million dollars in the same period in 2013. The company's shares rose on the better-than- expected quarterly results in after-hour trading.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 8.07 percent to end at 16.85 Thursday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar declined against most major currencies amid the mixed economic data.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1472 dollars from 1.1418 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 117.57 Japanese yen, higher than 117.36 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell as the job report came out better than expected. The most active gold contract for April delivery inched down 1.8 dollars, or 0.14 percent, to settle at 1,262.70 dollars per ounce. Endite