U.S. Stocks Open Sharply Higher as Chinese Stocks Rebound

U.S. stocks opened sharply higher Thursday as Chinese stocks staged their best one day gains since 2009. The rebound came after China's securities regulator, in its most drastic step yet to arrest the slump, banned shareholders with large stakes in listed firms from selling. U.S. weekly jobless claims jumped 15,000 to 297,000 to the highest level since February. The Independence Day holiday could have distorted the results. Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakota said in a speech in Germany that monetary policy may not be enough to meet the bank's goals on inflation and employment. PepsiCo (PEP) raised its earnings forecast for the year as cost cuts and price hikes helped the snack and beverage giant deliver better than expected results in the second quarter. CEO Indra Nooyi says the company continues to face headwinds in international markets. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) named Stefano Pessina CEO and lifted its full year outlook as profit soared in the latest quarter.