Stocks Regain Ground Following QE Details From ECB - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving mostly lower over the course of the two previous sessions, stocks have moved back to the upside in early trading on Thursday. The major averages have all climbed into positive territory but remain well off Monday's highs.

Currently, the major averages are hovering near their highs for the session. The Dow is up 52.66 points or 0.3 percent at 18,149.56, the Nasdaq is up 22.17 points or 0.5 percent at 4,989.31 and the S&P 500 is up 4.53 points or 0.2 percent at 2,103.06.

A positive reaction to news out of Europe has contributed to the early strength on Wall Street, as the European Central Bank provided additional details about its quantitative easing program.

ECB President Mario Draghi revealed that the bank will purchase $66.3 billion worth of bonds each month beginning on March 9th.

The central bank previously indicated that the $1.1 trillion asset purchase program is expected to continue until September of 2016.

Following its monetary policy meeting, the ECB also raised its forecast for European economic growth in 2015 to 1.5 percent from 1 percent.

While the ECB also lowered its outlook for inflation in the current year, the QE program is expected to boost inflation going forward.

The news out of Europe seems to have overshadowed some disappointing U.S. economic data, including a report from the Labor Department showing an unexpected increase in initial jobless claims.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 320,000 in the week ended February 28th from the previous week's unrevised level of 313,000. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected initial jobless claims to drop to 295,000.

With the unexpected increase, jobless claims rose to their highest level since reaching 327,000 in the week ended May 17, 2014.

Nonetheless, biotechnology stocks have moved sharply higher in early trading, driving the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index up by 2.7 percent. With the gain, the index has reached a new record intraday high.

Pharmacyclics (PCYC) has helped to lead the biotech sector higher, jumping by 10.5 percent after agreeing to be acquired by AbbVie (ABBV) for $21 billion.

Gold, utilities, and commercial real estate stocks are also seeing early strength, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index has advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are jumping by 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved modestly higher after ending the previous session nearly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.5 basis points at 2.108 percent.