US: Stocks rise on data, dovish ECB meeting

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday following a wave of mostly solid US data and a fresh confirmation of ultra-easy money policies by the European Central Bank.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 64.33 points (0.36 per cent) to 18,076.27.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 4.47 (0.21 per cent) at 2,114.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 22.71 (0.45 per cent) to 5,099.23. Economic reports showed a big drop in the US trade deficit in April, slower growth in the US services sector in May and a solid 201,000 new private-sector jobs in May.