U.S. stocks rally amid economic data

U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session on Thursday, as investors digested a batch of newly-released economic data ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 143.81 points, or 0.80 percent, to 18,178.58. The S&P 500 was up 17.64 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,143.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 58.61 points, or 1.13 percent, to 5,232.38.

On the economic front, in the week ending Sept. 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 259,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for August were 456.3 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the previous month, according to the Commerce Department.

The Producer Price Index for final demand was unchanged in August, seasonally adjusted, missing market expectations, the Labor Department said Thursday.

U.S. industrial production decreased 0.4 percent in August, falling more than the expected 0.3 percent, after rising 0.6 percent in July, announced the Federal Reserve.

Financial markets have been choppy in recent sessions on contrasting remarks by Fed officials before the central bank's meeting next week. The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's monetary policy arm, is set to meet on Sept. 20-21.

U.S. stocks wavered and closed mixed on Wednesday, following a more than one percent sell-off on Tuesday, as Wall Street still pondered when the Fed would hike interest rate. Enditem