U.S. stocks surge on Yellen's comments

U.S. stocks traded sharply higher in the morning session on Thursday, as investors took Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks as a dovish tone.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196.89 points, or 1.10 percent, to 18,132.63. The S&P 500 gained 20.77 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,121.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 69.37 points, or 1.37 percent, to 5,134.25.

After the conclusion of a two-day Fed policy meeting ending Wednesday, the Fed signaled that it was on track to raise the benchmark interest rate this year despite the lower-than-expected economic outlook.

However, Yellen stressed that the importance of the initial increase should not be overstated, adding that the stance of monetary policy will likely remain highly accommodative for quite some time after the first interest rate hike.

Some analysts believed that the pace of rate hikes would be slower when the Fed starts raising interest rates.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers increased 0.4 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, slightly below market consensus, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in May, its smallest increase since December.

"As oil prices stabilize, the freefall in the headline CPI is gradually receding into the past; however, just because inflation is no longer falling, it does not mean that it is yet time to worry about it rising enough to raise concern," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial, in a note.

In a separate report, the Labor Department announced the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 267,000 in the week ending June 13, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 279,000.

Overseas, finance ministers of euro zone countries gathered in Luxembourg on Thursday amid dimming hope to clinch a deal for Greece to avoid a default and Grexit.

"The chance is very small," Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Wednesday in Dutch Parliament.

It is unlikely that euro zone finance ministers can take decisions on Thursday during their meeting in Luxemburg as Greek proposals have not arrived yet, according Dijsselbloem. Endite