US open: Dow gains over 170 points as dollar's rally slows down

US stocks opened higher on Thursday, with markets staging a recovery after two negative sessions as the dollar’s rally lost some of its momentum.

Just after 10:00 in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points to 17,805.71, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 15 and 18 points respectively.

Overnight, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4% to a 15-year high, as Asian stocks were boosted by upbeat Chinese data, while the dollar eased against the yen.

The greenback lost 0.23% against the yen and 0.04% and 0.63% against the pound and the euro respectively, as the European currency staged a timid recovery after plunging to a new 12-year low during Asia trade.

Initial US unemployment claims dropped by an outsized 36,000 over the seven days ended on 7 March, to reach 289,000 according to the Department of Labor.

The consensus estimate had been for a reading of 305,000, while the figure for the previous week was revised up by 5,000 to 320,000.

Meanwhile, US retail sales declined for the third month in a row in February, as Americans continued to shy back from spending the money saved by the slump in gasoline prices.

Retail sales volumes fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% last month, after a 0.8% decline in January and a 0.9% drop in December, defying expectations for an increase of 0.3%.

“Speculation has risen that policy makers will start hiking interest rates as early as June," said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.

"However, these worrying retail sales numbers, alongside weak inflation and wage growth trends, mean it’s likely that the Fed will delay any tightening of policy until a clearer picture of the economy emerges later in the year."

In company news, Citigroup gained 4% after it was among the 28 banks that were given Fed’s approval to return to capital investors.

Acadia Pharmaceuticals plunged more than 22% after announcing late on Wednesday that it would delay submitting a new-drug application for Nuplazid.

Alibaba Holdings edged forward 0.66% after a Wall Street Journal report said the Chinese giant will invest $200m in a deal for Snapchat.

Burger chain Shake Shack and doughnut retailer Krispy Kreme Doughnuts fell 8.5% and 4.8% respectively, the former after missing fourth quarter earnings forecast and the latter after posting disappointing sales growth.

Oil prices fluctuated, with Brent crude rising 0.8% to $58.01 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude losing 0.9% to $47.74 a barrel, while gold futures rose 0.29% to $1,153.90.