Dow up sharply on Fed's $600B plan to help economy

Stocks are rising sharply, one day after the Federal Reserve announced a $600 billion plan to stimulate the economy.

Broad stock indexes are up more than 1.5 percent in Thursday trading.

Retailers are reporting solid sales gains for October, which is helping traders shake off a higher-than-expected jump in the number of new jobless claims. Gap Inc., Macy's Inc. and Target Corp. are all up more than 3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 179, or 1.6 percent, to 11,394. The S&P 500 is up 17, or 1.4 percent, to 1,215, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 32, or 1.3 percent, to 2,572.

Overseas shares are also rising. The Stoxx 50 index which tracks blue chip companies in Europe is up more than 1.8 percent.