Banks, tech firms help stocks rally

U.S. stocks rose Thursday as gains for technology companies and banks helped the market recover some of its losses from earlier in the week. However drugmakers and distributors tumbled.

The European Central Bank said Thursday that it would begin gradually reducing the bond purchases it has been making to strengthen the regional economy. Investors were glad the bank didin’t decide to be more aggressive. Starting in January the bank plans to cut the size of its purchases in half, to 30 billion euros a month. The euro weakened and European stock indexes jumped.

France’s CAC-40 jumped 1.5% and the DAX in Germany gained 1.4%. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5%.

The euro fell to $1.1657 from $1.1807 as investors think interest rates in Europe will stay lower for longer than they had expected.

Bond prices edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.46% from 2.44% as yields and interest rates remained at seven-month highs. SunTrust Banks rose 1.4% to $60.61 and American Express jumped 2.3% to $95.69.

Drugmaker Celgene plunged after it reduced its forecasts for this year, partly because it expects weaker sales of its new psoriasis treatment Otezla. Celgene stock lost 16.4% to $99.99. Bristol-Myers Squibb lost 4.8% to $60.95 after it reduced its annual forecast.

Materials companies climbed after a round of strong results. Dow DuPont jumped 2.8% to $73.05, and Air Products & Chemicals gained 4.4% to $161.39.

Amazon reported its third-quarter results after the close of trading. Its stock rose 8% after Amazon reported net income of $256 million, or 52 cents a share, for the three months that ended Sept. 30. That easily beat the 2 cents a share analysts had expected, according to FactSet.

CVS Health tumbled $2.22, or 2.9%, to $73.31. Minutes before the close of trading, the Wall Street Journal reported that the drug store pharmacy benefits company is in talks to buy health insurer Aetna. Aetna stock jumped 11.5% to $178.60.

U.S. crude added 46 cents to $52.64 a barrel. Brent crude rose 86 cents, or 1.5%, to $59.30 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline rose 2 cents to $1.75 a gallon. Heating oil picked up 2 cents to $1.84 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold gave up $9.40 to $1,269.60 an ounce. Silver fell 11 cents to $16.81 an ounce. Copper lost 1 cent to $3.18 a pound.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.2% higher, while South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.5%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.4%.

The dollar rose to 114 yen from 113.72 yen.