NEW YORK, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, buoyed by overall strength in the tech names.

       The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 349.44 points, or 1.02 percent, to 34,707.94. The S&P 500 added 63.92 points, or 1.43 percent, to 4,520.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 269.24 points, or 1.93 percent, to 14,191.84.

       All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with technology and materials up 2.71 percent and 1.96 percent, respectively, leading the gains.

       U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

       The above market reactions followed a major setback on Wall Street, which saw the Dow shed nearly 450 points on Wednesday as a surge in oil prices fueled fears about higher inflation.

       On Thursday, oil prices retreated with the U.S. crude standard and Brent dropping 2.3 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively. Both crude benchmark jumped more than 5 percent in the prior session.

       On the economic front, U.S. initial claims, a rough way to measure layoffs, stood at 187,000 in the week ending March 19, a decrease of 28,000 from the previous week's revised level, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday.