New York - US stocks snapped a two-day losing streak on Thursday, finishing higher on news of European monetary stimulus and a $21bn pharmaceutical merger.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.82 points (0.21%) to 18 135.72.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 2.51 (0.12%) to 2 101.04, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 15.67 (0.32%) at 4 982.81.