By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday, rebounding after the biggest
two-day decline since late January.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 177 points, or 1%, to
17813. The S&P 500 index rose 17 points, or 0.8%, to 2057, and
the Nasdaq Composite gained 28 points, or 0.6%, to 4878.
Stocks ended slightly lower Wednesday; the Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell 0.2% to 17635.39 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to
2040.24.
Stocks have rallied since the financial crisis, in part because
the returns on stocks are more appealing than returns on competing
assets in a low interest-rate environment. While the Federal
Reserve is on track to raise short-term rates this year, easing
efforts from other central banks will keep global rates low. Many
investors say stocks can continue to gain in this environment.
"The U.S. market is still the place to be," said Gail Dudack,
chief investment strategist at Dudack Research Group, a division of
brokerage Wellington Shields & Co.
Investors looked past mixed economic data on Wednesday. Retail
sales fell 0.6% in February, marking the third month in a row of
declining sales, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected total sales to rise
0.2% last month.
Separately, a weekly labor-market report showed signs of
continued improvement. Jobless claims fell by 36,000 to 289,000 in
the week ended March 7, the Labor Department said. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 305,000
claims.
For months, analysts have been predicting that lower oil and gas
prices will boost consumer spending. Oil prices have tumbled more
than 50% since last June. Increased consumer spending should in
turn boost corporate profits, helping push stocks higher. But the
pickup in spending hasn't yet materialized, even as the economy
continues to add jobs.
"With more people employed and lower oil prices...you'll start
to see the underlying strength of American consumers," said Ben
Pace, chief investment officer of HPM Partners.
In European stock markets, Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% after
hitting its 24th all-time high for the year Wednesday. France's CAC
40 was nearly flat.
In commodity markets, gold futures added 0.3% to $1153.60 an
ounce. Crude-oil slipped 0.1% to $48.11 a barrel. Treasury prices
rose, pushing the 10-year yield down to 2.077% from 2.110% on
Wednesday.
In corporate news, Dow component United Technologies Corp. said
it would explore strategic alternatives for its Sikorsky Aircraft
business, which is known for its Black Hawk helicopters. Shares
rose 1.8%.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has invested $200 million in Snapchat
Inc., which values the messaging company at $15 billion. Shares of
Alibaba rose 0.8%.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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