NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks shaved early gains but still closed in positive territory Thursday, as investors embraced encouraging economic data from the country while assessing implications of dipping below 60 U.S. dollars a barrel for U.S. oil prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 63.19 points, or 0.36 percent, to 17,596.34. The S&P 500 climbed 9.19 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,035.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 24.14 points, or 0.52 percent, to 4,708.16.
Boosted by the generally better-than-expected data, the stock market gained steam in early session, with the blue-chip Dow climbing as much as 225 points at its session high.
Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for November rose 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, mainly supported by motor vehicle sales and online shopping, said the U.S. Commerce Department. The increase was stronger than market expectations, as low oil prices boosted consumer spending in the holiday season.
Separately, it said that U.S. business inventories were up 0.2 percent in October from September, meeting market estimates.
Moreover, the number of Americans who initially filed for jobless benefits in the week ending Dec. 6 decreased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 294,000, holding below the 300,000 level for the 13th straight week, said the U.S. Labor Department.
In a separate report, the Labor department said U.S. import prices dropped 1.5 percent in November, while export prices fell 1. 0 percent, driven by declining fuel prices.
However, the U.S. equity market lost momentum in the afternoon session, as crude prices continued to slide. The U.S. oil prices tumbled below 60 U.S. dollars per barrel for the first time since July 2009, after Kuwait cut its crude selling price to Asian clients.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery moved down 99 cents to settle at 59.95 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday, while Brent crude for January delivery lost 56 cents to close at 63.68 dollars a barrel.
On the previous trading day, the three stock indices tumbled over 1 percent, undermined by sliding crude prices which fell to fresh five-year lows.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, jumped 8.36 percent to finish at 20.08 on Thursday.
In other markets, gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell, with the most active gold contract for February delivery down 3.8 dollars, or 0.31 percent, to settle at 1,225.6 dollars per ounce.
The U.S. dollar rose against other major currencies amid the overall positive economic data from the country.
In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.2383 dollars from 1.2444 dollars in the previous session, and the U.S. dollar bought 119.09 Japanese yen, higher than 118.08 yen of the previous session.
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