(MENAFN- AFP) US stocks moved higher in early trade Thursday, following European equity markets upward after the European Central Bank cut interest rates and announced plans for an asset-purchase plan.
About 35 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 64.16 points (0.38 percent) to 17,142.44.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 7.62 (0.38 percent) to 2,008.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 23.09 (0.50 percent) to 4,595.65.
Against a background of growing concern that the single currency area is threatened by stagnant growth and deflation, the ECB cut its main "refi" refinancing rate to 0.05 percent from 0.15 percent.
The ECB also lowered its deposit rate and marginal lending rate and said it would undertake purchases of securities on a large scale to inject cash into the economy.
Equity markets in Britain, France and Germany all rose.
Meanwhile, US economic data showed a slight rise in weekly jobless claims and a decline in the US trade deficit in July. On Friday, the Labor Department releases its jobs report for August.
Google rose 0.9 percent as it reached an agreement with French luxury products group LVMH to work together to fight the sale of counterfeit goods online, ending nearly 10 years of litigation.
Amazon bolted 2.7 percent higher as it announced a venture to enable children's book authors to publish and promote both physical and electronic children books on the Kindle reader.
Costco Wholesale, which sells groceries, furniture and a broad slate of products, jumped 2.4 percent after it reported a seven percent gain in comparable store sales for August.
PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and other apparel brands, surged 9.3 percent higher on second-quarter net income of $126.5 million, up from a $5.4 million loss a year ago. The results bested the company's forecasts.
Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and other fast-food chains, fell 0.9 percent on continued poor sales in China. The company said it is still suffering weak sales in the giant Asian economy in the wake of a scandal involving a supplier who allegedly used expired meat.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.43 percent from 2.41 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year advanced to 3.18 percent from 3.16 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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