Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday, as sentiment improved after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that Outright Monetary Transactions had helped alleviate market tensions in recent weeks.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.45%, while the Nasdaq Composite index eased up 0.03%.
Speaking at the ECB’s post-policy meeting press conference, Draghi said the ECB was ready to undertake OMT’s when the prerequisites are in place and reiterated that the central bank was acting strictly within its mandate in undertaking a bond buying program via OMT’s.
Draghi also said economic risks in the euro zone remain to the downside and added that economic indicators point to weak growth in the third quarter.
The ECB left rates on hold at a record low 0.75% earlier, in a widely anticipated decision.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as U.S. lenders tracked their European counterparts' performances. Shares in Goldman Sachs jumped 1.02% and JP Morgan rallied 1.37%, while Bank of America and Citigroup surged 1.76% and 1.82%.
Facebook added to gains, with shares climbing 1.42% after the social-networking giant said it reached 1 billion active monthly users in September, and is up by 45 million users since June.
In the tech sector, AT&T saw shares rise 0.38% as the company was reportedly preparing to announce later in the day plans to sell Nokia's first device running on Windows Phone 8 software for the U.S. market, accordng to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard tumbled 3.35%, after plunging over 12% on Wednesday, as the tech giant cut its 2013 earnings guidance and CEO Meg Whtiman added that the company's turnaround will take longer than initially expected.
Elsewhere, Sprint tumbled 1.92% after Baird downgraded the wireless communications company to "underperform" from "neutral."
Also on the downside, U.S. Airways lost 0.34%, even as it posted better-than-expected traffic in September and reported growth in its domestic and Latin segments.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The EURO STOXX 50 edged down 0.10%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.04%, Germany's DAX slipped 0.12%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched 0.04% higher.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edgd up 0.09%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.89%.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to produce the minutes of its September policy meeting.
During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.34%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.45%, while the Nasdaq Composite index eased up 0.03%.
Speaking at the ECB’s post-policy meeting press conference, Draghi said the ECB was ready to undertake OMT’s when the prerequisites are in place and reiterated that the central bank was acting strictly within its mandate in undertaking a bond buying program via OMT’s.
Draghi also said economic risks in the euro zone remain to the downside and added that economic indicators point to weak growth in the third quarter.
The ECB left rates on hold at a record low 0.75% earlier, in a widely anticipated decision.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as U.S. lenders tracked their European counterparts' performances. Shares in Goldman Sachs jumped 1.02% and JP Morgan rallied 1.37%, while Bank of America and Citigroup surged 1.76% and 1.82%.
Facebook added to gains, with shares climbing 1.42% after the social-networking giant said it reached 1 billion active monthly users in September, and is up by 45 million users since June.
In the tech sector, AT&T saw shares rise 0.38% as the company was reportedly preparing to announce later in the day plans to sell Nokia's first device running on Windows Phone 8 software for the U.S. market, accordng to Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard tumbled 3.35%, after plunging over 12% on Wednesday, as the tech giant cut its 2013 earnings guidance and CEO Meg Whtiman added that the company's turnaround will take longer than initially expected.
Elsewhere, Sprint tumbled 1.92% after Baird downgraded the wireless communications company to "underperform" from "neutral."
Also on the downside, U.S. Airways lost 0.34%, even as it posted better-than-expected traffic in September and reported growth in its domestic and Latin segments.
Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed to lower. The EURO STOXX 50 edged down 0.10%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.04%, Germany's DAX slipped 0.12%, while Britain's FTSE 100 inched 0.04% higher.
During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edgd up 0.09%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index climbed 0.89%.
Later in the day, the Federal Reserve was to produce the minutes of its September policy meeting.