Wall St. opens higher Thursday

Wall Street shares opened higher Thursday while traders remained on guard for fresh volatility after growing fears of a US recession sent global markets into a nosedive earlier this week.

In the first hour trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.29, or 0.42 percent, to 12,321.46 after briefly dipping into negative territory.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 9.39, or 0.70 percent, to 1,347.99, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 27.23, or 1.18 percent, to 2,343.64.

The Dow on Wednesday swung 631.86 points from its low point to its high _ its largest single-day reversal in more than five years.

Although US share prices surged on Wednesday following days of losses, the Dow is down by over seven percent for the year to date, traders said the gains may have been triggered by programmed computer trades and hedge fund bets.

US auto giant Ford Motor Co. said it had trimmed its losses and would take new cost-cutting measures, as it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 2.8 billion dollars.

The stock rose 7 cents to $6.37.

AT&T Inc. fell 91 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $35.78 after reporting that its fourth-quarter profit rose on gains in its wireless business and growth in its broadband Internet sales. Results from the nation's largest telecommunications company were in line with forecasts, according to Thomson Financial.

Investors found reason for optimism from strong results from the world's largest maker of mobile phones. Nokia Corp. said its fourth-quarter earnings jumped 44 percent to $2.6 billion and that it had managed to meet a long-term goal of hitting 40 percent market share for handset sales. Nokia rose $2.13, or 6.6 percent, to $34.56.

Lockheed Martin Corp. rose $1.38 to $103.07 after posting a 10 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit. The earnings of $799 million, or $1.89 per share, topped the $1.69 per share that Wall Street had been expecting, according to Thomson Financial. Giving investors further room for optimism, the company boosted its 2008 profit forecast amid strength in its aeronautics business.

(Agencies)