Dow ends 87 points higher as stocks bounce after back-to-back declines

Stocks ended with small gains Thursday, bouncing modestly after back-to-back declines tied to worries about the Federal Reserve’s plans to continue tightening monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.25% closed around 87 points higher, up 0.3%, near 34,584, according to preliminary figures, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.43% rose around 19 points, or 0.4%, to finish near 4,500. The Nasdaq Composite, which bore the brunt of the 2-day pullback, eked out a gain of around 8 points, or 0.1%, to close near 13,897. Minutes of the Fed’s March policy meeting on Wednesday showed that policy makers aim to run $95 billion of securities off its balance sheet monthly after a three-month phase-in, while affirming that policy makers were open to raising rates in half-point increments in future meetings.