U.S. stocks gain on economic data

Wall Street futures inched higher on Thursday trading session after economic data from the world's largest economy signaled that an improvement in investors' sentiment and as the Federal Reserve Chairman Yellen commented that the Fed may hike rates in 2015. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.60% to 1,872.01, the Dow Jones added 0.67% to 16,331.05 and the Nasdaq index jumped 0.27% to 4,319.286.