U.S. stocks higher but Greek concerns weigh; Dow Jones up 0.13%

Forexpros - U.S. stocks were moderately higher on Thursday, as market sentiment found mild support after better-than-expected U.S. unemployment data but concerns over the outcome of Greek debt talks continued to weigh.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13%, the S&P 500 index advanced 0.28%, while the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.43%.

Investor confidence briefly improved earlier after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits fell last week to 367,000, beating expectations for a decline to 373,000.

Sentiment was hit after Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker said that debt swap talks between Greece and private creditors were “ultra-difficult”.

Earlier in the week, European officials indicated that negotiations with Greece’s private creditors on a debt writedown are almost concluded, but concerns have persisted that the debt swap deal will not go far enough to reduce the country’s debt load.

Financial stocks led gains as shares in Bank of America jumped 1.09% and Goldman Sachs added 0.40%, while JP Morgan and Citigroup advanced 0.40% and 0.28%.

Retailers were also higher as Target advanced 0.93%, while Limited Brands and Costco surged 4.56% and 1.87% respectively. All three companies reported same-store sales that exceeded estimates.

Meanwhile, Macy's jumped 2.24% after the company said same-store sales gained less-than-expected but raised its earnings forecast for its fiscal fourth quarter.

MasterCard added to gains, with shares climbing 5.89% after the credit-card provider posted earnings that topped estimates for the seventh-straight quarter.

On the downside, drug maker Merck saw shares decline 1.22% after it reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and said it expects relatively flat 2012 results.

Dow Chemical also slumped 0.56% after the chemical company posted a quarterly loss due to a one-time charge that caused it to pay higher taxes at its Brazilian operations.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were higher. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.43%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.50%, Germany's DAX climbed 0.49%, while Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.25%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.8%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.76%.

Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to testify before the House of Representatives budget committee.