NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Dow Jones industrial average pulled ahead early Thursday as optimism over a $30 billion economic bailout package for Brazil sparked buying of financial services issues.

At 9:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 69.64 to 8,525.79. The Nasdaq composite index gained 0.33 to 1,281.23. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 9.90 to 886.67.

Financial stocks with exposure to Brazil rallied. The International Monetary Fund, seeking to contain a deepening economic crisis in South America, said Wednesday it would provide $30 billion in loans to Brazil in one of the biggest bailout packages in the history of the global lending organization.

J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: up $1.66 to $25.70, Research, Estimates), FleetBoston Financial (FBF: up $1.99 to $23.90, Research, Estimates) and Citigroup (C: up $2.28 to $33.80, Research, Estimates) all rose.

Wholesale prices fell in July as businesses facing slackening demand cut the costs of goods. The government's Producer Price index slipped 0.2 percent last month, led by a slide in auto prices. Economists expected a slight gain.

Separately, the Labor Department said the number of Americans filing new claims or unemployment benefits fell by 15,000 to 376,000 last week.

Wal-Mart Stores (WMT: unchanged at $48.38, Research, Estimates), the No 1 retailer, raised earnings guidance for the second quarter.

Overseas, Asia's markets edged lower while Europe's markets rose. The dollar gained against the euro and yen. Treasury securities advanced while oil futures were little chnaged.

U.S. stock rallied for a second straight session Wednesday, gaining back some of the losses from a three-session tumble that ended Monday.