Stocks and most exchange-traded funds climbed sharply through midday Thursday, then faded, but retained some of their gains.

A trifecta of declining jobless claims, raised guidance from retailers and Alcoa's upside earnings surprise buoyed major indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 61 points at 9786. The Nasdaq pipped up 14 to 2124 and the S&P 500 climbed 8 to 1065.

Initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 33,000 to 521,000 in the week ended Oct. 3, the Labor Department said, the lowest level since Jan. 3.

Retailers offered improved forecasts, but those numbers were viewed against a backdrop of lower expectations, as forecasts project a flat holiday shopping season compared to a year ago. Companies raising their quarterly earnings outlooks included Kohl's, Target and JC Penney.

In the unofficial start to the third-quarter earnings season, Pittsburgh-based aluminum maker Alcoa reported a surprise profit of 8 cents a share, down from a year-earlier profit of 33 cents a share. Wall Street analysts had expected a loss of nine cents a share.

Most Asian markets rallied as stronger-than-expected jobs data from Australia, buoyant commodity prices and news of Alcoa's return to profit spurred risk appetite.

For a detailed rundown on Thursday s trading session, see our market story.

Winners

The Market Vectors Russia fund rose 4.8% on surging energy and metals prices, coupled with a more upbeat view of emerging-market recoveries. Rising crude prices pushed up shares of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production fund by 3.4%.

Losers

The midday market dip reflected some valuation concerns, which took the iShares MSCI Taiwan Index fund down 1.3%. Momentum buying in stocks pulled investors from Treasurys, sending the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund down 1.1%.

Thursday s Industry Headlines

Data Point
State Street reported that exchange-traded fund assets reached an all time high in September, climbing to $695 billion under management. As of Sept. 30, there were 768 domestically traded ETFs, managed by 28 management companies. Inflows for the month climbed 5.1% to about $33 .6 billion.

Launching Pad
Exchange-traded-fund manager iShares has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission to a pair of new bond ETFs. The prospectus for the iShares 10+ Year Credit Bond Fund said it will track the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 10+ Year U.S. Corporate & Yankees Index. The iShares 10+ Year Government/Credit Bond Fund will track the BofA Merrill Lynch 10+ Year U.S. Corporate & Government Index.

Friday s Notebook

Earnings and Conference Calls
Biomet, Infosys Technologies, Tortoise Capital Resources

Economic Data
8:30 a.m. Trade Balance for August