US open: Stocks gain after upbeat Chinese data

US stocks gained on Thursday after upbeat data on Chinese exports soothed fears about the nation’s economic slowdown.

At 1517 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.74%, the S&P 500 increased 0.67% and the Nasdaq gained 1.18%.

China exports rose 11.5% in March year-on-year in dollar terms, according to the General Administration of Customs. The increase was more than the 10% expected by analysts and compared to a 25.4% drop in February. It also marked the first rise in nine months.

Imports in March fell 7.6%, less than the 10.1% drop expected and following a 13.8% decline in February.

“China’s trade data for March point to healthy growth in import volumes and add to growing evidence that the extreme gloom of a few weeks ago about the state of the domestic economy was misplaced,” said Capital Economics.

The figures come a day after the International Monetary Fund said China’s slowdown may not be as severe as first thought, revising its economic growth forecasts to 6.5% this year and 6.2% next year, both up two-tenths of a percentage point from the last outlook.

Meanwhile, investors shrugged off worse-than-expected US retail sales data. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 0.3% in March on the month compared with expectations of a 0.1% increase, as auto sales slumped 2.1%.

Separately, the Commerce Department revealed US business inventories fell 0.1% in February, in line with analysts’ expectations. Inventories in January were revised down to show a 0.1% decline compared to a previously reported 0.1% increase.

In commodities, oil prices extended losses after US government data showed crude inventories increased by 6.6 million barrels, bringing the total in storage to 536.5 million barrels in the previous week.

The market is eagerly awaiting a meeting between global producers on Sunday to discuss whether to freeze output to address the oversupply in the market.

At 1544 BST West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 0.54% to $41.94 per barrel and Brent slid 0.54% to $44.45 per barrel.

On the company front, JP Morgan’s shares jumped after it reported first quarter earnings that beat forecasts.

Peabody Energy shares fell after the company filed for Chapter 11 protection from its creditors, having warned recently that it could go bankrupt.

Herb and spice manufacturer McCormick & Co. was in the red after announcing that it has abandoned takeover talks with London-listed Premier Foods.

In currencies, the dollar rose 0.84% against the euro, increased 0.34% versus the pound and gained 0.58% against the yen.