NEW YORK - US shares swung higher at the open on Thursday as investors sifted for bargains after a punishing three-day market rout and shook off more bleak economic and corporate news.
In the first five minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.21 points (0.94 per cent) to 8,360.87 after a 411-point decline on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq climbed 11.39 points (0.76 per cent) to 1,510.60 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index increased 9.91 points (1.16 per cent) to 862.21.
The market action came after a heavy selloff in the US and global markets on Wednesday on growing recession fears and concerns that government rescue efforts may be ineffective.
On Thursday, the markets digested a forecast of weaker results from tech giant Intel and profits in line with forecasts from retail sector leader Wal-Mart.
On the economic front, the US trade deficit fell 4.4 per cent in September but the data showed steep declines in both imports and exports.
'The major headlines today aren't of the uplifting variety,' said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
He said the market direction 'is anyone's guess, but the resilience in the early-going indicates a lot of the bad news was already priced in with the 15 per cent decline in the S&P 500 in the past six sessions.' -- AFP
