NEW YORK: US stocks gained in opening trade Thursday helped by a weekly jobless claims number that confirmed the improving trend in the labor market.
Markets also were marginally encouraged by Italy's having pulled off another bond auction at high but not disastrous rates.
After the first half hour of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74.17 points (0.61 percent) at 12,225.58.
The broader S&P 500 added 7.21 (0.58 percent) to 1,256.85, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 4.95 (0.19 percent) to 2,594.93.
Initial jobless claims climbed to 381,000 in the week ending December 24, up from 366,000 the previous week, but the four-week moving average fell to 375,000, a level last seen in June 2008.
"Despite the uptick in initial claims, the US labor market continues to show signs of gradual improvement," said Robert Kavic of BMO Capital Markets.
Italy meanwhile scraped through a key bond auction test, raising 7.0 billion euros ($9.0 billion). That was less than the 8.5 billion euros hope for but the interest rate the country paid came in below the danger threshold of 7.0 percent.
Even so, worries about the eurozone remained, with the single currency slumping to $1.2858, its lowest level against the dollar since September 14, 2010, and to 100.06 yen, a level last seen in June 2001.
Among stocks in focus, insurer The Travelers Companies led the Dow blue chips with a 1.2 percent rise.
Amazon lost 3.8 percent after a Goldman Sachs analysis said that new data on holiday Internet shopping suggested forecasts for the company's fourth quarter could be over-optimistic.
Bond prices slipped slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.92 percent from 1.91 percent on Wednesday, while the 30-year was at 2.93 percent compared with 2.90 percent a day earlier.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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