U.S. stocks rebound amid data, earnings

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher in the morning session Friday as investors meditated on the newly-released economic data as well as corporate earnings reports.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 151.10 points, or 0.62 percent, to 24,659.76. The S&P 500 added 22.42 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,674.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 63.86 points, or 0.93 percent, to 6,920.38.

U.S. industrial production moved up 0.2 percent in November after posting an upwardly revised increase of 1.2 percent in October, the Federal Reserve announced Friday. The latest figure missed market forecast of a 0.3-percent gain.

Meanwhile, business activity continued to grow at a solid clip in New York State, according to firms responding to the December 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index came at 18.0, which remained close to last month's level.

In corporate news, shares of Costco surged over three percent around midday Friday as the U.S. retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

After Thursday's closing bell, Costco reported net income of 640 million U.S. dollars, or 1.45 dollars per diluted share, for the fiscal first quarter of 2018, compared to 545 million dollars, or 1.24 dollars per diluted share, for the same period last year.

Shares of Adobe rose about one percent around midday Friday after the software maker also delivered positive quarterly earnings report.

U.S. stocks reversed early gains to end lower Thursday as investors continued to digest the U.S. central bank's decision to raise interest rates for the third time in 2017. Enditem