Stocks Opened with Strong Bounce Back

U.S. stocks opened with robust gains on Thursday with Europe’s situation seemingly less dire after Italy’s bond auction went better than expected and the U.S. government reported another drop in weekly jobless claims. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately added 131.09 points to 11,912.03. The S&P 500 rose 13.47 points to 1,242.57. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 18.84 points to 2,640.49.

The Italian government sold 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) in 12-month Treasury bills Thursday as borrowing costs surged. The auction produced an average yield of 6.09%, the Treasury said, up sharply from 3.57% in a sale of 12-month bills in October.

Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, on Thursday was named the new prime minister of Greece, following several days of negotiations to form a coalition government, according to a statement by the office of the Greek president. Papademos replaces George Papandreou in the role.

The number of Americans who filed new applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven months. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 390,000 in the week ended Nov. 5,

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in September as exports rose to a record high and imports stagnated for the fourth month in a row. The nation’s trade deficit contracted 4% in September to $43.1 billion from $44.9 billion in August, the Commerce Department said Thursday.