(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) U.S. stocks extended strong gains Thursday after the Fed signalled patience with its planned rate hikes yesterday.
As of noon in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 263 points to 17620 while the Nasdaq added 73 points to 4717 and the S&P 500 surged 30 points to 2043. The Dow closed up 288 points on Wednesday following the Fed statement.
Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen said that an interest rate increase was unlikely for at least the next two FOMC meetings and that whether hikes come faster or on that date depends on the economy. The central bank kept the phrase "considerable time" in its policy statement but introduced the word "patient".
Kicking off the economic calendar this morning weekly jobless claims came in better than expected dropping by 6000 to 289000 for the week that ended December 13. Economists were expecting flat claims of 295000.
Later in the morning the Bank of Philadelphia said its monthly index on regional manufacturers fell to 24.5 in December from 40.8 in November which was the highest reading in almost 21 years. Economists had expected the gauge to pull back to 25.
At the same time the Conference Board reported that the leading indicators index for November rose 0.6% suggesting the U.S. is likely to expand at a fairly strong pace in the next few months.
In corporate news shares of () surged over 11% after the drugstore chain reported fiscal third quarter results that topped estimates while also raising its full year outlook.
(NYSE:ORCL) also issued earnings and revenue that beat expectations last night as sales of its cloud services business rose 45% in the first quarter with Safra Catz and Mark Hurd as co-CEOs. Shares of jumped more than 8% on Thursday.
The big earnings event of the day is Nike's () report which is due out after the closing bell Thursday.
In other stock news () rose more than 3% after the company said it expects current quarter revenue to come in above Wall Street estimates boosted by sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
Tetraphase Pharamceuticals (NASDAQ:TTPH) soared 16% after the company said its antibiotic to treat complicated intra-abdominal infections was as effective as Merck's ertapenem in a late-stage study.
. () has acquired Swiss-based privately-held cancer-focused pharmaceutical company OncoEthix for $375 million.
Corp () has decided to cancel its planned Christmas debut of “The Interview” amid terror threats against theaters that had planned to show the movie.
Hertz () was also one to watch with shares up more than 7% after activist investor Carl Icahn revealed that he has purchased 2.63 million more shares of the car rental company upping his stake from 10.77 percent to 11.34 percent.
The early morning rally for oil prices subsided with January WTI crude last down 92 cents at $55.53 a barrel in New York. Gold futures for February delivery rose $1 to $1195 an ounce.
European markets closed sharply higher today led by shares in France while Asian markets mostly finished in the green supported by the Fed's show of patience.
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