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US sharemarkets had a positive day on Thursday, led by technology shares, which pushed the Nasdaq up nearly 1.5 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 94.28 points, or 0.73 percent, to close at 12,992.66, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index added 14.91 points, or 1.06 percent, to close at 1,423.57.
The technology-based Nasdaq composite climbed 37.03 points, or 1.48 percent, to close at 2,533.73.
US sharemarkets struggled in the morning session over mixed economic news, with the Labor Department reporting jobless claims rose by 6,000 last week to reach 371,000, in line with expectations and the lowest weekly increase in two months, and reports that New York-area and Philadelphia-area manufacturing weakened.
Yahoo shares were up 2.2 percent after shareholder Carl Icahn announced a bid to regenerate Microsoft buy-out talks, while shares in CNet jumped by 43.5 percent after broadcaster CBS announced it was buying the internet company for US$1.8 billion in cash.
Other big name tech stocks to post gains on Thursday included chipmaker Intel, Apple, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard.
The price of US light crude oil for June delivery dropped by 10 cents to close the day at US$124.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the price of gold on the COMEX exchange added US$13.30 to by worth US$884.10 an ounce.
(c) NewsRoom 2008
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