Roundup: U.S. stocks surge on positive earnings, oil recovery

U.S. stocks rebounded strongly Thursday, as Wall Street cheered over positive earnings and a rebound in oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 227.64 points, or 1.41 percent, to 16,379.05. The S&P 500 jumped 31.56 points, or 1.67 percent, to 1,921.84. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 88.94 points, or 1.97 percent, to 4,615.00.

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 rose 1.50 percent to 58.20 dollars apiece.

Investors were also encouraged by a recovery in oil prices. Both the U.S. oil and Brent crude jumped over 2 percent Thursday.

The West Texas Intermediate for February delivery moved up 72 cents to settle at 31.2 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for February delivery increased 72 cents to close at 31.03 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Despite Thursday's solid gains, the Brent crude still tumbled over 17 percent since the start of the year, dragged down by a global supply glut and a stronger U.S. dollar.

On Wednesday, the Brent crude briefly traded below 30 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 four-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 U.S. import prices declined 1.2 percent in December, driven by a drop in fuel prices.

Overseas, Chinese stocks recouped steep morning declines to end sharply higher Thursday, as China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) postponed the immediate stock listing reform Wednesday night.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.97 percent to close at 3,007.65 points.

European equities decreased broadly Thursday. British benchmark FTSE 100 Index fell 0.72 percent, while French benchmark index CAC 40 dropped 1.80 percent.

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 CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 5.04 percent to end at 23.95 Thursday.

In other markets, the U.S. dollar was mixed against other currencies Thursday as economic data from the country came out negative.

In late New York trading, the euro moved down to 1.0860 dollars from 1.0875 dollars in the previous session. The dollar bought 118.15 Japanese yen, higher than 117.84 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Thursday as the U.S. equities showed strength.

The most active gold contract for March delivery was down 13.5 dollars, or 1.24 percent, to settle at 1,073.60 dollars per ounce. Endit