US STOCKS-Wall Street ends up after jobs, trade data

                                

                                
 * Four-week jobless claims average down in positive sign
                                
 * Trade gap unexpectedly narrows as U.S. exports climb
                                
 * Dow up 0.7 pct, S&P up 0.6 pct, Nasdaq up 0.3 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Adds volume in last 2 paragraphs)
                                
 By Angela Moon
                                
 NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained on Thursday
as signs of improving trends in the job market and a decline in
the U.S. October trade deficit reassured investors the economy
was on a steady growth path.
                                
 The Labor Department said weekly jobless claims rose more
than expected last week, but investors took comfort in the
four-week average, a better view of underlying trends, which
fell to the lowest since September last year.
                                
 A separate report showed the trade deficit shrank 7.6
percent as a weak dollar helped boost U.S. exports of goods and
services to their highest in nearly a year. For details, see
[ID:nN10156007]
                                
 "The jobless claims data certainly got the market moving up
in the start, giving a lift to retail and consumer (stocks),
which really set the direction of the market today," said
Michael James, senior trader at Wedbush Morgan, a regional
investment bank in Los Angeles.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 68.78
points, or 0.67 percent, at 10,405.83. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> ended up 6.40 points, or 0.58 percent, at
1,102.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> closed up 7.13
points, or 0.33 percent, at 2,190.86.
                                
 Consumer-discretionary sector index <.GSPD> was the top
performer on the S&P, led by gains in Walt Disney Co <DIS.N>,
up 3.1 percent at $31.30. The index rose 1.4 percent.
                                
 Trading was thin as investors looked to preserve gains as
the end of the year approaches and refrained from making big
bets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate meeting
next week.
                                
 Coca-Cola Co <KO.N> shares gained 1.3 percent to $58.58 as
one of the top boosts to the Dow after the soft-drink maker
resolved a dispute with Costco Wholesale Corp <COST.O> that led
the large retailer to halt orders of Coke products.
[ID:nN10201905]
                                
 Time Warner Inc <TWX.N> shares also rose 4.2 percent to
$30.45 after completing its spinoff of AOL Inc <AOL.N>, which
shed 0.6 percent to $23.52. [ID:nN09151301]
                                
 On the Nasdaq, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion
<RIMM.TO> <RIMM.O> rose 2.6 percent to $65.80 and Amazon.com
<AMZN.O> closed up 3 percent to $135.38, rebounding from the
previous session.
                                
 Ciena Corp <CIEN.O> shares fell 11.4 percent to $11.72
after it posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss,
heightening concerns about rising costs ahead of its
acquisition of a Nortel Networks Corp <NRTLQ.PK> unit.
                                
 Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.06
billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated
daily average of 1.49 billion, while on the Nasdaq, about 1.96
billion shares traded, also below last year's daily average of
2.28 billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of 18 to 11, while on the Nasdaq, 16 stocks fell for
every 10 that rose.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)