The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.33 points (0.19 per cent) to 8,528.61 in early trades after chalking up a 1.21 percent rise a day earlier.

The Nasdaq composite fell 8.43 points (0.48 per cent) to 1,750.67 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 3.38 points (0.37 per cent) to 922.91.

Traders said the market seemed positive ahead of results later Thursday of stress test conducted by the authorities on 19 top banks.

'Stocks are higher in morning action as the Street digests more reports of how some of the largest banks fared as a result of the government's stress test,' analysts at Charles Schwab & Co said in a report.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a television interview that none of the 19 banks subjected to the tests were insolvent in a bid to reassure investors the US financial system was sound. -- AFP