Stocks rose on Wall St on Wednesday after stronger-than-expected employment and service-sector data in the United States.
But a gloomier outlook in China and Europe hit energy shares and weighed on commodity prices.
The Dow Jones Index was up 26 points to 13,509. The Nasdaq Composite was up 17 points or 0.5%, to 3137.
Traders in Europe were on edge amid heated speculation over a bailout for Spain and ahead of a policy meeting at the Europen Central Bank.
The FTSE100 in London was up 0.28%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.22% and the CAC-40 in Paris was down 0.24%.
Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index closed up 6 points to 4,439 and the NZX50 index rose 18 points to close at 3889.
The New Zealanad dollar on Thursday was trading at 81.95 US cents, 80.2 Australian cents, 50.97 pence, 64.35 yen and 0.6351 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 73.24.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US109.74 per barrel and gold is trading at $US1776.59 per ounce.
