NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
A dip in oil prices and some bullish analysts' commentary helped lift U.S. stock markets early Thursday.
After 10 minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average (up 12.39 to 10,129.46, Charts) and the Standard & Poor's 500 (up 3.22 to 1,098.64, Charts) index posted modest gains.
The Nasdaq composite (up 15.28 to 1,873.54, Charts) rallied almost 1 percent, after having fallen during the previous session.
Light crude oil futures hit a 21-year-high of $43.05 a barrel during the day Wednesday on reports that Russia would stop oil leader Yukos from making sales, due to ongoing financial problems at the company. The surge in oil prices contributed to a stock selloff during the day Wednesday, that somewhat eased at the close, partly on talk that Russia would not intervene in Yukos' sales.
On Thursday, Russia's justice ministry said it wouldn't force Yukos to halt the sales. Light crude prices eased in electronic trading Thursday and Brent crude oil futures lost 48 cents to $39.05 an ounce, having briefly touched on 14-year highs the day before.
Two brokerages initiated coverage on Dow component IBM (IBM: unchanged at $85.85, Research, Estimates) with positive ratings.
Credit Suisse First Boston initiated coverage it with an "outperform" rating and a $100 price target, saying the company should do well as corporate spending picks up. CIBC World Markets started coverage on the stock with a "sector outperform" rating.
CIBC also started coverage on Yahoo! with a "sector outperformer" rating.
In the session's biggest earnings news, Dow component Exxon Mobil (XOM: unchanged at $45.81, Research, Estimates) said it earned 88 cents per share, up from 62 cents a year earlier and in line with the expectations of analysts.
Investors seemed to take in stride the morning's mixed economic news, including a report that the number of people filing new claims for unemployment last week rose more than expected.
Treasury prices dipped, pushing the 10-year note yield up to 4.59 percent from 4.58 percent late Wednesday. The dollar rose versus the yen and euro.
COMEX gold fell $1.70 to $390.10 an ounce.
In global trade, European markets rose at midday there. Asian stocks closed lower Thursday
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