Wall Street surged in early trading Thursday, as Group of 20 leaders met to discuss stimulus plan and commodity stocks rose as metal and oil prices climbed.

Stocks got boosted Thursday as the world's finance leaders discussed the global economy in London. Investors were enthusiastic about word from the London meeting of financial regulatory changes and economic stimulus plan.

Commodity stocks advanced, as crude added 7.5 percent to over 52 dollars per barrel and copper gained for a third day.

Wall Street maintained the rally, even as data showed a surprisingly large jump in jobless claims. The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 657,000. That total was above analysts' expectations and the highest in more than 26 years.

The Dow Jones rose 163.12 to 7,924.80. Broader indexes also moved to the plus side. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 18.96 to 830.04; and the Nasdaq rose 30.70 to 1,582.30.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2009)