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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks surge on strong data

Xinhua, March 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks posted solid gains Tuesday, the first trading day of March, as Wall Street cheered over a batch of upbeat economic reports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 348.58 points, or 2.11 percent, to 16,865.08. The S&P 500 leapt 46.12 points, or 2.39 percent, to 1,978.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 131.65 points, or 2.89 percent, to 4,689.60.

The U.S. manufacturing index registered 49.5 percent in February, an increase of 1.3 percentage points from the January reading of 48.2 percent and topping market expectations, the Institute Supply Management (ISM) said Tuesday.

"Even as the slowdown in global manufacturing deepened in the first two months of Q1-16, US manufacturing edged back toward growth in January and February. Recent stability in the dollar is likely helping US companies compete in the US even as demand for manufactured products diminishes overseas," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

The Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that U.S. construction spending during January 2016 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,140.8 billion U.S. dollars, 1.5 percent above the revised December estimate, beating market consensus of 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, investors expected a further easing of monetary policies due to downbeat manufacturing data out of the euro zone and China.

The data will likely give the U.S. Federal Reserve a pause as it deliberates on if and when it will further increase interest rates, according to Reuters.

"At this moment, I judge that the balance of risks to my growth and inflation outlooks may be starting to tilt slightly to the downside," said William Dudley, the New York Fed President, at a conference in Hangzhou, China.

Overseas, Chinese stocks rose and regained the 2,700-point mark on Tuesday after its central bank announced a cut in its reserve requirement ration (RRR).

European equities also increased broadly Tuesday. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange jumped 2.34 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 0.92 percent. Endit