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U.S. stocks rally on oil recovery

Xinhua, January 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session on Friday, as further recovery in oil prices boosted investors' sentiment.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.31 points, or 0.84 percent, to 16,015.99. The S&P 500 gained 28.23 points, or 1.51 percent, to 1,897.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 91.83 points, or 2.05 percent, to 4,563.89.

Oil prices continued to rebound strongly Friday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude surging over 5 percent in the early trading, as traders started to buy the dip despite persistent oversupply worries.

Meanwhile, hopes of stimulus in the euro zone also cheered Wall Street. The European Central Bank (ECB) held its key interest rates at record low levels on Thursday and planned to "reconsider" its monetary policy early March in a bid to lift weak inflation and stimulate the economy.

"It will therefore be necessary to review and possibly reconsider our monetary policy stance at our next meeting in early March," said ECB President Mario Draghi.

"Work will be carried out to ensure that all the technical conditions are in place to make the full range of policy options available for implementation, if needed."

Analysts said Draghi's remarks suggested that the ECB is willing to offer more stimulus at its next meeting in March.

On the economic front, existing home sales in December jumped 14.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

U.S. stocks rebounded amid rising oil prices Thursday, as comments from Draghi signaled further stimulus. Endit