U.S. stocks turn sharply higher after market digests ECB’s QE

The U.S. stock market pushed sharply higher on Thursday after experiencing choppy early trading, as investors digested the European Central Bank’s long-awaited announcement of monetary stimulus program to revive the slumping eurozone economy.

The central bank will launch a bond purchase program worth 60 billion euros , or $69 billion, a month in March. The size and scope of the program was larger than investors anticipated as it is planned to continue until at least September 2016, and is potentially open-ended.

By early morning, the S&P 500 SPX, +0.72% made a trip to negative territory but was last trading higher. Financials and consumer discretionary sector stocks were leading the gains. Telecoms were lagging after disappointing results from Verizon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.67% was looking at a triple-digit gain, with half of its 30 components trading in positive territory. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.86% also was seeing was up, at last check, after seeing choppy trading.

“The initial positive reaction indicated that investors were relieved that the ECB finally delivered and the fact that the bond purchases are open ended has come as a big surprise. But now, the focus shifted to whether the program will actually work or not,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones.

In economic news, the number of people who sought new U.S. unemployment benefits in mid-January fell by 10,000, but the level of applicants remained above 300,000 for the third straight week for the first time since July in what’s likely a reflection of post-holiday layoffs

U.S. house prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index released Thursday.