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U.S. stocks open higher on ECB moves

Xinhua, March 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday as investors were boosted by details on quantitative easing in the euro zone.

The European Central Bank (ECB) said Thursday that its quantitative easing program (QE) will kick off on March 9.

The announcement was made by ECB President Mario Draghi after a meeting of its Governing Council in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia.

"We will on 9 March, 2015, start purchasing euro-dominated public sector securities in the secondary market. We will also continue to purchase asset backed securities and covered bonds which we started last year. As previously stated, the combined monthly purchases of public and private sector securities will amount to 60 billion euros," Draghi said.

On the economic front, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 320,000 for the week ended Feb. 28, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 313,000. The figure is above analysts' estimates.

Many traders are also awaiting Friday's February U.S. jobs report, expected to show about 240,000 nonfarm payrolls, below the 257,000 last month.

In corporate news, Costco, the third-largest U.S. retailer, announced Thursday its operating results for the second quarter and first half of fiscal 2015, which ended Feb. 15. Net sales for the quarter increased 4 percent to 26.87 billion dollars from last year and net income rose to 598 million dollars for the second quarter. Shares jumped 2.83 percent in the early trading.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 19.64 points, or 0.11 percent, to 18,116.54. The S&P 500 gained 2.14 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,100.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 11.63 points, or 0.23 percent, to 4,978.77.

U.S. stocks continued to drop Wednesday, as Wall Street was digesting the Federal Reserve's Beige Book amid mixed economic data. Endi