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U.S. stocks rally on ECB moves

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session Thursday, as investors were boosted by details on quantitative easing in the eurozone.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.32 points, or 0.16 percent, to 18,125.22. The S&P 500 gained 3.56 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,102.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 17. 56 points, or 0.35 percent, to 4,984.70.

The European Central Bank (ECB) said Thursday that its quantitative easing program (QE) will start Monday. 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 for the week ended Feb. 28, increased 7, 000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 320,000, exceeding market consensus, reported the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday.

New orders for manufactured goods in January declined 0.2 percent, down for six consecutive months, said the Department of Commerce.

Traders are also keeping an eye on Friday's February U.S. jobs report, which is the big economic report for the week. Endite