U.S. stocks gain as tech shares rally

NEW YORK, March 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday as major tech shares surged, contributing to the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 216.84 points, or 0.84 percent, to 25,962.51. The SP 500 increased 30.65 points, or 1.09 percent, to 2,854.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 109.99 points, or 1.42 percent, to 7,838.96.

shares of major U.S. tech giants, or the so-called "FAANG" groups of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet, all closed higher.

Apple shares climbed 3.68 percent to 195.09 U.S. dollars apiece at the close after an analyst at Needham upgraded the stock to strong buy from buy ahead of next week's "Apple Special Event."

Both shares of Western Digital and Micron Technology soared more than 9 percent, among the best performers in the Nasdaq.

Ten of the 11 primary SP 500 sectors gained, with technology up 2.47 percent, outperforming others. Financials decreased 0.3 percent, the only decliner among the groups.

shares of Biogen plummeted more than 29 percent at the close after the pharmaceutical giant said it would end the trial for an Alzheimer's drug it was developing.

On the economic front, in the week ending March 16, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped by 9,000 to 221,000 from the previous week's revised figure, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast the jobless claims to total 225,000.

The reading of jobless claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which signals a tight labor market in the United States. Enditem