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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks rebound on ECB moves

Xinhua, March 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks posted modest gains amid soft data Thursday, as investors were boosted by details on quantitative easing in the eurozone.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.82 points, or 0.21 percent, to 18,135.72. The S&P 500 gained 2.51 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,101.04. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 15.67 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,982.81.

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.

Economic data came out negative. The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless 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.

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

"Manufacturing is under pressure in the U.S. in part thanks to the strong dollar. The dollar poses a unique challenge to U.S. producers, but it is not the only thing holding manufacturing down, " said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

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

In corporate news, Costco Wholesale Corporation shares jumped 2. 72 percent to 151.17 U.S. dollars apiece Thursday after the third- largest U.S. retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

The company reported its net income for the quarter ended Feb. 15 was 598 million dollars, or 1.35 dollars per diluted share, compared to 463 million dollars, or 1.05 dollars per diluted share, a year ago. Endite