The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 97.71 points (0.91 percent) to 10,817.65 in the first 15 minutes of trade, after losing 520 points on Wednesday.
The broader S&P 500 gained 11.09 points (0.99 percent) to 1,131.85, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 31.03 points, or 1.3 percent, to 2,412.08.
Big swings in the opening minutes continued the volatile trade of the past week as investors struggle with weak economies on both sides of the Atlantic, the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the US credit rating, and more worries over the health of top eurozone countries.
European markets seesawed again Thursday but moved into positive territory in afternoon trading after French President Nicolas Sarkozy called a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at preventing the eurozone debt crisis from forcing Italy and Spain into default.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011