By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks began higher on Thursday after jobless claims illustrated continuing economic improvement in the U.S. and signals from Europe and China were also supportive.
Equities stretched gains into a second day after export data from China topped expectations and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi projected Europe’s economy would bounce back later this year.
In the U.S., new applications for jobless benefits rose slightly last week, but the level of claims revealed little change over the past few months and were consistent with a modestly improving U.S. labor market. See: Jobless claims rise to 371,000.
“We see decent if unspectacular jobs growth. In Europe the recession is not worsening, Chinese growth is accelerating and in the U.S., the worst of the fiscal cliff is behind us,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.08% rose 40.37 points, or 0.3%, to 13,430.88.
The S&P 500 index SPX +0.21% added 5.84 points, or 0.4%, to 1,466.86, with technology leading sector gains among its 10 major industry groups.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP +0.07% climbed 14.61 points, or 0.5%, to 3,120.41.
For every stock that fell, nearly two rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where 89 million shares traded as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
