NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks opened higher on Thursday on optimism the economies of both the U.S. and China may be recovering.

Jobless claims fell by 23,000 in the latest week while the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China’s factory output should grow faster sequentially in the fourth quarter. In addition, Procter & Gamble (PG.N) rallied 2.6 percent after reporting results.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 70.34 points, or 0.54 percent, at 13,147.68. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index .SPX was up 8.59 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,417.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 23.19 points, or 0.78 percent, at 3,004.88.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Bernadette Baum)