Stocks rose Thursday, led by energy, financial, and technology shares, as investors welcomed signs of improvement in the U.S. labor market. The Labor Department's weekly jobless-claims report offered a few encouraging signs ahead of Friday's monthly labor report. Jobless claims fell slightly last week. In other economic news, U.S. first-quarter productivity increased 1.6 percent, double the government's previous estimate. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery rose $2.69 to $68.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were supported by Goldman Sachs raising its 2009 crude forecast to $85 a barrel and issuing a 2010 forecast of $95 per barrel. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.96, or 0.9 percent, to 8,750.24. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.70, or 1.15 percent, to 942.46. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 24.10, or 1.3 percent, to 1,850.02. Intel will buy software maker Wind River for $884 million in cash, a 40 percent premium above Wind River's share price on Wednesday. Intel shares rose 1 percent, and Wind River shares jumped 44 percent. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 76.86 to 6,110.76. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 11.03 to 1,626.98. And the Russell 2000 index rose 8.97 to 531.68.
