Roundup: U.S. stocks rebound on ECB moves

U.S. stocks posted modest gains amid soft data Thursday, as investors were encouraged 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 ending 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 U.S. February jobs report, which is a 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 ending Feb. 15 at 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.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 1.34 percent to end at 14.04 Thursday.

In other markets, Crude prices decreased Thursday as traders believed the global supply exceeded demand.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 77 cents to settle at 50.76 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for April delivery moved down 7 cents to close at 60.48 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies on Thursday as investors expected Friday's closely-watched nonfarm payroll report would indicate an improving U.S. labor market.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.1027 dollars from 1.1074 dollars in the previous session, while the greenback bought 120.16 Japanese yen, higher than 119.71 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped slightly on Thursday as a weakened euro caused the U.S. dollar to strengthen considerably.

The most active gold contract for April delivery fell 4.7 dollars, or 0.39 percent, to settle at 1,196.20 dollars per ounce. Endite