Earnings reports buoy US stocks

US stocks have opened higher, extending two days of gains, as corporate earnings continued to lift sentiment despite a strong surge in weekly jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21.95 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 12,930.65 in the first five minutes of trade on Thursday.

The S&P 500 advanced 3.91 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,376.69.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 22.20 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 2,964.80.

"The relatively improved corporate earnings sentiment is helping soothe the sting from a jump in weekly initial jobless claims, which likely continued to be distorted by seasonal adjustment factors," said Charles Schwab & Co analysts.

The US Labor Department reported 386,000 initial jobless claims were filed in the week ending July 14, an almost 10 per cent increase from the prior week's upwardly revised figure and well above expectations of a rise to 365,000.

The action came after Wall Street stocks clocked up a second straight day of gains on Wednesday amid encouraging earnings reports. The Dow added 0.8 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 0.7 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 1.1 per cent.

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