U.S. stocks rally amid positive earnings, oil recovery

U.S. stocks pared early losses to trade higher around midday Thursday, as Wall Street cheered over positive earnings and a rebound in oil prices.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 190.80 points, or 1.18 percent, to 16,342.21. The S&P 500 gained 20.18 points, or 1.07 percent, to 1,910.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 41.88 points, or 0.93 percent, to 4,567.94.

Before Thursday's opening bell, JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The U.S. bank reported a net income of 5.4 billion U.S. dollars for the fourth quarter of 2015, on revenue of 23.7 billion dollars. Its shares jumped over 2 percent around midday.

Investors were also encouraged by a recovery in oil prices. Both the U.S. oil and Brent crude traded over 1 percent higher in the morning session Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Brent crude briefly traded below 30 U.S. dollars a barrel for the first time since April 2004, as data showed that U.S. gasoline and diesel stockpiles surged for a second consecutive week.

On the economic front, in the week ending Jan. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 284,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 278,750, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 275,750.

In a separate report, the department said that U.S. import prices declined 1.2 percent in December, driven by a drop in fuel prices.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks suffered big losses on the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, while renewed pressure on oil prices continued to weigh on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 364.81 points, or 2.21 percent, to 16,151.41 on Wednesday. The S&P 500 shed 48.40 points, or 2.50 percent, to 1,890.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 159.85 points, or 3.41 percent, to 4,526.06. Endit