New York  - US stocks posted gains Thursday after a poor start to the week, led by banking and technology shares that overshadowed another rise in US jobless claims.

Financial firms erased much of their early week losses, which stemmed from many banks launching stock offerings. Tech stocks were led by gains in Apple Corp and Intel Corp.

Weekly claims of state unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose 32,000 to 637,000, the Labour Department said Thursday, signalling that the US economy has yet to achieve sustained improvement.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.43 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 8,331.32. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 9.15 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 893.07. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 25.02 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 1,689.21.

The S&P 500 had fallen sharply for the first three days of the week and remains down 3.9 per cent since Monday.

The US currency fell against the euro to 73.31 euro cents from 73.55 euro cents on Wednesday. The dollar climbed against the Japanese currency to 95.83 yen from 95.33 yen. (dpa)