US stocks open higher after three-day slide

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6% at 33,772.61

Wall Street stocks rose early Thursday as markets tried to snap a three-day slide and US data showed lower unemployment claims and a jump in wholesale prices.

The Labor Department reported 473,000 new seasonally adjusted claims for jobless benefits made in the week ended May 8, fewer than expected and 34,000 less than the previous week's upwardly revised level.

Meanwhile, wholesale price inflation in the United States surged 6.2 per cent in April compared to the same month in 2020, the highest on record.

The data follow Wednesday's report showing a jump in consumer prices. Rising fears about inflation have pressured stocks in recent weeks, including the last three sessions.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 per cent at 33,772.61.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 4,092.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.1 per cent to 13,169.87.

Thursday's early gains suggested "that the scope of recent losses has gone far enough to whet the appetite of the buy-the-dippers who have successfully feasted over the last year or so on down moves like the one that has recently unfolded," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.