US stocks rose on Thursday as a late rally in technology, consumer-staples and industrial companies helped the market overcome an early slump, due to a surprise increase in first-time claims for unemployment benefits.
Consumer prices in May also marked their largest decline in nearly 18 months.
The Dow Jones Index rose 25 points, or 0.25%, to close at 10,434.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 1 point to close at 2307.
Earlier in Europe, the FTSE 100 index in London ended 0.3% higher and the DAX in Frankfurt and CAC-40 in Paris rose 0.5% and 0.2% respectively.
The Australian 200 Index closed down 32 points, or 0.7%, to 4527.
The NZX 50 fell 21 points, or 0.7% to close at 3046 on turnover of $66 million.
At 8.12am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 70.24 US cents, 81.07 Australian cents, 47.43 pence, 63.92 yen and 0.5676 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 67.60.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US77.86 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1245.30 per ounce.
