Stocks up for 3rd day on expected ECB stimulus

Stocks ended higher Wednesday as traders were encouraged by reports that the European Central Bank was poised to unveil further stimulus measures.

The major indexes logged third straight day of gains.

The ECB, which is meeting in Frankfurt, is expected to announce Thursday that it will finally launch a Federal Reserve-style bond-buying program to stave off deflation and jumpstart the eurozone economy, which is flirting with recession.

According to Bloomberg, the ECB may launch a program to buy 50 billion euros worth of sovereign bonds each month through the end of 2016.

STIMULUS:ECB floats monthly 50 billion euro QE program

STOCKS:USA TODAY's live markets blog

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.2%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.3%.

Investors were also digesting another batch of mixed earnings reports:

• UnitedHealth Group (UNH) was the leading Dow component after the nation's largest health insurer reported earnings that beat Wall Street expectations and forecast better-than-expected 2015 results. Shares jumped 3.5%.

• IBM (IBM) was the Dow's biggest loser as shares sank 3.1%. The tech giant reported an 11% drop in fourth-quarter earnings and issued a disappointing outlook.

• Netflix (NFLX) surged 17.4% after the streaming video firm reported strong fourth-quarter earnings and subscriber growth.

"This earnings season is not as much of a slam dunk as in the past," said Anastasia Amoroso, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "In prior seasons we had all sectors contributing (to gains), but energy and some industrial companies aren't now. There's a lot of uncertainty."

Overseas, a big rebound in Chinese shares helped lead most Asian stock markets higher Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite surged 4.7% to 3323.61 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.7% to close at 24,352.58.

Japan's central bank said Wednesday it expects the economy to rebound in the coming fiscal year after contracting 0.5% this fiscal year, in an upbeat assessment that scuttled hopes for fresh stimulus. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5% to 17,280.48.

European stocks were higher as markets bet on the ECB throwing the continent's stricken economy another lifeline on Thursday. Britain's FTSE 100 index jumped 1.6% to 6728.04 and Germany's DAX index gained 0.4% to 10,299.23. France's CAC 40 added 0.9% to 4484.82.

Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was up 37 cents to $46.85 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The February contract ended its last day of trading Tuesday by dropping $2.30 to close at $46.39 a barrel. Brent crude for March delivery, the international benchmark, rose 63 cents to $48.62 in London.

Stocks cut sharp early losses and closed slightly higher Tuesday with the technology sector leading the turnaround.

Contributing: Associated Press