U.S. stocks open higher after sharp gains

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday after sharp gains in the previous four sessions.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 221.42 points, or 0.89 percent, to 25,114.91. The S&P 500 increased 16.79 points, or 0.62 percent, to 2,715.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 44.13 points, or 0.62 percent, to 7,187.75.

U.S. equities continued to rise on Thursday, as major indices tried to notch a five-day winning streak, despite stronger-than-expected inflation data.

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.1 percent.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the core consumer prices gained 0.3 percent in January. In the 12 months through January, the core CPI increased 1.8 percent.

Analysts say the string of data all beats market expectations and thus has rekindled concerns of surging inflation, which helped send the U.S. stocks to two-year lows last week.

Investors fret that a strong rise in inflation would prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as many as three times later this year. Enditem