Stocks close higher; Dow Jones gains 55 points

Dow recovers half of its loss from Wednesday

Trader Michael Bercovici, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange today. Stocks are notching small gains in early trading after the U.S. government reported that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since late November.

NEW YORK — Stocks closed higher today as the Dow Jones industrial average regained half of what it lost the day before.

The Dow rose 55 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 14,606. It fell 111 points the day before on weak economic reports.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose six points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,559. The Nasdaq rose six, 0.2 percent, to 3,224.

U.S.-listed shares of Japanese companies rose after Japan's central bank announced aggressive stimulus measures to revive the economy from a two-decade slump.

Best Buy soared 16 percent after announcing a plan to put kiosks for the Korean electronics giant Samsung in its stores.

Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than usual at 3.2 billion shares.