New York  - US stocks rose Thursday after weekly unemployment claims fell unexpectedly and crude oil prices retreated from record highs.

Jobless claims fell 9,000 dollars last week, the government said. Crude oil reached a record 135 dollars per barrel early in the day but had retreated by closing in New York, helping retail stocks.

The positive market day came despite US home prices falling 3.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 from a year earlier, the sharpest drop ever recorded in the government's 17-year-old index, suggesting the US housing and mortgage crisis has not yet come to an end.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 24.43 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 12,625.62. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 3.64 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 1,394.35. The technology- heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 16.31 points, or 0.67 per cent, to 2,464.58.

The dollar rose to 63.57 euro cents from 63.34 euro cents on Wednesday and climbed against the Japanese currency to 104.11 yen from 103.06 yen.

Gold fell 10.30 dollars to 918.30 dollars per fine ounce. (dpa)