Wall Street shook off early uncertainty to close moderately higher Thursday as a series of mixed economic reports managed to make investors more optimistic about the chances for an interest rate cut. The market was uneasy after the Mortgage Bankers Association said homeowners beginning the foreclosure process in the second quarter reached a record 0.65%. It was the third consecutive quarter that the figure reached an all-time high.

But investors gleaned some reason for optimism from comments from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, who said inflationary pressures are "increasingly well behaved," and that the central bank is "listening carefully" to business conditions. St. Louis Fed President William Poole made similar comments earlier in the day.

Reports on the job market, service sector, and August retail sales did not disappoint investors. Last week, for the first time in seven weeks, claims for unemployment benefits dropped, the Labor Department said. It also reported that worker productivity jumped to an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent in the April to June quarter, much better than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 57.88, or 0.44%, to 13,363.35, after earlier wobbling in and out of positive territory. Broader stock indicators also lifted. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.26, or 0.43%, to 1,478.55, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.37, or 0.32%, to 2,614.32.

Bonds fell as stocks recovered ground. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose to 4.51% from 4.47% late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against most other major currencies, while gold prices jumped.

The credit markets, whose problems caused the volatility on Wall Street over the past month, remain tight. The New York Fed, which carries out the central bank's market operation, injected a total of $ 31.25 billion through three repurchase agreements Thursday -- the largest amount the Fed has injected in weeks -- to help keep the markets liquid. The Fed also reported that about 3% of asset-backed commercial paper, a type of bond companies sell for quick cash, was unable to be rolled over in the week ended Wednesday.

A barrel of light, sweet crude rose 57 cents to $ 76.30 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.


Indian ADRs end on a positive note; VSNL surges 4%

Indian ADRs managed to post good gains following strong cues from the Wall Street. VSNL was amongst the major gainers, rising 4%. In the technology pack, Infosys Technologies was up 2.38% at 49.02, Patni Computers was down 1.08% at 23.79, Satyam Computers was up 0.24% at 24.99, while Wipro ended the day 0.56% up at 14.37.

In the non-technology pack, HDFC Bank was up 3.23% at 89.16, VSNL was up 3.96% at 20.50, ICICI Bank was up 1.42% at 44.87, MTNL was up 3% at 7.20, Tata Motors was up 2.79% at 17.31, Dr Reddy's Lab was up 1.05% at 16.35 and Sterlite was up 1.7% at 16.12.