US stocks bounce back smartly

Major US equity indices opened with strong gains on Thursday and quickly recovered previous session's losses, led by hawkish FOMC meeting minutes. 

The minutes from the January Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed that policymakers inclined to continue with a gradual monetary policy tightening cycle and reinforced prospects for a rate hike action in March. 

Investors, however, seemed to have shrugged off concerns over the faster pace of rate increases and rather preferred to focus more on the broader picture, which continues to point towards improving economic conditions.

On the economic data front, initial US weekly jobless claims fell by 7,000 to 222K during the week ended Feb. 17 and remained supportive of the buoyant sentiment.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 200-points, back to the key 25K psychological mark, and the broader S&P 500 Index added around 16-points to 2,717. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed over 40-points to 7,260.