U.S. stocks higher on data, earnings reports; Dow Jones up 0.10%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks were higher on Thursday, boosted by gains in the financial sector after positive earnings results and as sentiment remained supported after a string of relatively upbeat U.S. economic data.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.10%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.26%, while the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.45%.

Official data showed earlier that the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week declined unexpectedly to 352,000, falling to the lowest level since April 2008.

The data came after reports showing that the number of building permits issued in the U.S. was unchanged at 0.68 million in December, holding steady near the highest level since March 2010, while housing starts rose less-than-expected.

Data also showed that core consumer price inflation rose 0.1% in December, in line with expectations after a 0.2% rise the previous month, while consumer price inflation was flat in December, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise.

Bank of America surged 5.15% after announcing that it met earnings expectations and topped revenue estimates. Meanwhile, rival Morgan Stanley saw shares jump 5.53% although posting a decline in revenue as the investment bank lost money in the fourth quarter due to a big charge related to a legal settlement.

Citigroup, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs contributed to gains, with shares climbing 2.69%, 1.12% and 0.85% respectively.

Elsewhere, BP saw shares advance 0.20% as the energy group was expected to agree to pay the U.S. Department of Justice between USD20 billion to USD25 billion next month to settle all civil and criminal charges around the oil spill in 2010.

F5 Networks was also up 9.08% after the tech firm forecast a strong quarter, helped by an increase in data consolidation demand from corporations looking to reduce costs.

Meanwhile, Kodak’s common stock was suspended after the company filed for bankruptcy protection and said it received a USD950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to keep it going.

Other stocks in focus included Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft, slated to post earnings after-the-bell.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were sharply higher. The EURO STOXX 50 jumped 1.37%, France’s CAC 40 surged 1.38%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.62%, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.41%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rallied 1.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.04%.

Sentiment also improved earlier after well-received auctions of Spanish and French government debt.

Later in the day, the U.S. was also to release data on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area.