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U.S. stocks open higher on China stimulus

Xinhua, April 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Monday, following a big decline in the previous session, as Chinese steps to stimulate its economy.

China's central bank on Sunday decided to lower the reserve requirement ratio (RRR), the minimum level of reserves banks must hold, by one percentage point effective from Monday.

This is the second time that the central bank has adopted an across-the-board RRR cut plus targeted cuts following a similar move on Feb. 4.

After the latest change, big banks must hold 18.5 percent of their deposits in reserve.

The move aims to "boost structural adjustment," the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said, adding it will give an additional one-percentage-point RRR cut to banks engaged in lending to small firms, the farming sector and major water projects.

U.S. equities suffered big losses on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding more than 350 points at its session low, as stronger American inflation data and Greece debt crisis spread jitters across the markets.

In corporate news, Morgan Stanley Monday reported net revenues of 9.9 billion U.S. dollars for the first quarter, above market' s forecasts. Its quarterly adjusted earnings per share beat analysts' expectations as well.

Morgan Stanley's financial results were helped in part by better than expected performance in investment management and fixed income. Shares rose 0.30 percent in the early trading.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sharply gained 188.31 points, or 1.06 percent, to 18,014.61. The S&P 500 jumped 15.31 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,092.49. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 24.17 points, or 0.49 percent, to 4,955.99. Endi