Futures jumped sharply Thursday following news that the ECB took a coordinated effort with the Federal Reserve to boost dollar liquidity.
Futures had pared their gains earlier following a handful of economic news that came in weaker than expected.
The European Central Bank said it would, reintroduce three-month dollar liquidity operations in the fourth quarter, alongside other major central banks. The ECB said it would hold three separate operations between October and December, adding it would help see banks through the year-end period.
Markets jumped across the board following the news with the euro rallying to nearly $1.39 and the 10-year Treasury yield jumping to almost 2.12 percent. Brent crude also extended their gains.
On the economic front, weekly jobless claims for the week ending Sept. 10 gained 11,000 to an adjusted 428,000. Economists polled by Reuters expected a reading of 410,000, compared with 414,000 in the prior week.
Meanwhile, the U.S. inflation rate slowed down slightly in August as gasoline prices rose at a more modest pace, according to the Labor Department. The CPI increased 0.4 percent last month, after gaining 0.5 percent in July.
A gauge of manufacturing in New York State contracted in September to minus 8.82 for a fourth consecutive month, falling to the lowest level since November, according to the New York Fed. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of minus 4.0.
U.S. industrial production crept up 0.2 percent in August while industries used 77.4 percent of their capacity, according to the Federal Reserve, an indication that the economy isn't headed toward another recession. Economists had expected an increase of 0.9 percent and capacity utilization of 77.5 percent.
At 10:00am ET, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank releases its September business activity survey. Economists told Reuters they expect a reading of -15.0 versus -30.7 inAugust.
Netflix sank almost 15 percent after the video rental company slashed its subscriber numbers in the U.S. for the third quarter, due to a deecline in DVD-only customers.
Diversified U.S. manufacturer Tyco International agreed to acquire Israeli electronic security systems maker Visonic for $2.26 a share, or a total of $100 million in cash.
Meanwhile a U.S. federal jury awarded DuPont $919.9 million in damages on Wednesday, ruling that South Korean company Kolon Industries stole trade secrets for a fiber used to make Kevlar bulletproof vests.
And the U.S. Securities and Exchcange Commission is widening its probe into mortgage-bond deals that ushered in the financial crisis, and is pushing for a settlement of more than $200 million with Citigroup the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the world had entered a new economic danger zone and Europe, Japan and the U.S. all needed to make hard decisions to avoid dragging down the global economy.
European shares gained, extending the previous session's rally. Investor sentiment was boosted by a speech by European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to the European Parliament in which he said the Commission was preparing to put plans before the parliament for a Euro zone backed bond.
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Coming Up This Week:
THURSDAY: Industrial production, Philadelphia Fed survey, credit card default rates reported; Earnings from Research In Motion
FRIDAY: Treasury international capital, consumer sentiment, quadruple witching