1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks extend gains on rising oil, upbeat data

U.S. stocks kept rising Thursday, as Wall Street digested a batch of generally positive economic reports amid oil recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average leapt 212.30 points, or 1.29 percent, to 16,697.29. The S&P 500 gained 21.90 points, or 1.13 percent, to 1,951.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 39.60 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,582.21.

Oil prices continued to rally Thursday, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude jumping over 2 percent. According to media reports, OPEC members and Russia had agreed to meet in March to discuss capping crude production at January levels.

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in January increased 11.1 billion U.S. dollars, or 4.9 percent, to 237.5 billion dollars, well above market consensus, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Thursday.

The increase, up in the wake of two consecutive monthly decreases, followed a 4.6 percent December decrease.

"Aside from volatility, orders are flatlining. Still, flatline is better than how orders looked last month. It will take another month before we can get more excited. As good as the data were today, there is not yet any evidence of a rising trend," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

Meanwhile, in the week ending Feb. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims increased 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 272,000, said the Labor Department Thursday.

Overseas, Chinese shares plunged Thursday, notching the heaviest daily loss in February. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dived 6.41 percent to close at 2,741.25 points.

European equities rebounded strongly Thursday. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange jumped 1.79 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index surged 2.48 percent. Endit