U.S. stocks open sharply higher after heavy sell-off

NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Friday, a day after both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 fell into correction territory.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks plummeted, with the Dow sinking over 1000 points, as the rise in yields continued to weigh on the market.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 registered a 10 percent drop from their highs at the close Thursday, indicating a market correction by Wall Street's traditional definition.

It was the second time the Dow declined more than 1,000 points in one week. On Monday, the blue-chip index slumped 1,175.21 points, or 4.60 percent.

Investors also kept a close eye on the progress of the U.S. government's spending bill. U.S. nonessential government services were shutdown overnight but reopened Friday morning following Congressional passage of a temporary two-year 400-billion-U.S.-dollar spending bill that President Donald Trump signed this morning.

In corporate news, shares of FireEye, Inc. surged about 10 percent in the morning trading on Friday after the software-security company reported its first-ever quarter of profitability.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 are expected to rise by 14.7 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase by 8 percent.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 254.75 points, or 1.07 percent, to 24,115.21. The S&P 500 increased 27.51 points, or 1.07 percent, to 2,608.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 84.85 points, or 1.25 percent, to 6,862.01. Enditem