NEW YORK: US stocks rose modestly on Thursday as upbeat news from retailers helped ease concerns about an economic downturn, taking the sting out of fresh record highs for crude oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 52.43 points (0.41 percent) at 12,866.78 and the Nasdaq composite added 12.75 points (0.52 percent) to 2,451.24.

The Standard & Poor's broad-market index increased 5.11 points (0.37 percent) to 1,397.68.

The market opened on a positive note as retailers' monthly sales reports led by Wal-Mart's suggested US economic activity was holding up better than expected.

Meanwhile the International Council of Shopping Centres said April US chain store sales rose by 3.6 percent on a year-over-year, same-store basis.

That helped ease the sting of a record high for crude oil, which closed in New York at an all-time peak of 123.69 dollars and then rose in after-hours deals to 124.57 dollars a barrel.

Mark Fightmaster at Schaeffer's Investment Research said investors chose to focus on the positive news from retailers, unlike on Wednesday.

"Following yesterday's sizeable loss thanks to crude prices, retail sales figures stepped to the forefront to offer a bit of bullish fodder," Fightmaster said.

"One of the focus retailers was Wal-Mart Stores, which reported that April same-store sales excluding fuel increased 3.2 percent compared to a year ago."

Al Goldman at Wachovia Securities said he believes the market's recovery from this year's lows remains intact.

"Despite the more aggressive nature of the pullback yesterday, we consider this to be a normal correction within the recent uptrend and we will be watching market action near-term for possible buying opportunities," he said.

Among stocks in focus, Wal-Mart rose 0.58 percent to 57.16 dollars as the world's biggest retailer reported stronger-than-expected sales for April.

News Corp., the media-entertainment giant led by Rupert Murdoch, advanced 2.45 percent to 19.67 dollars after it reported a tripling of its net profit for the latest quarter.

Microsoft added 0.21 percent to 29.27 dollars amid reports the software giant was considering stronger ties with the social networking site Facebook after dropping its bid for Yahoo, up 1.21 percent at 25.95.

Energy companies gained on the rise in crude: ExxonMobil climbed 1.25 percent to 89.93 dollars and Chevron increased 2.27 percent to 97.74.

Bonds held firm. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond dipped to 3.805 percent from 3.867 percent on Wednesday while that on the 30-year bond eased to 4.564 percent against 4.622 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. - AFP/de