Wall Street rebounds, but Cisco weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose early Thursday as investors sought bargains after a string of losing sessions.

Concerns over Europe's sovereign debt crisis helped spark a drop in the S&P 500 in five of the past six sessions. While concerns over the region persisted, heightened by political gridlock in Greece, investors used the declines as a buying opportunity.

"We were oversold, but now there are some fair valuations in stocks, especially in ones that pay dividends or have recently increased them," said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee in Birmingham, Alabama.

"The issues with Europe aren't going away, but they seem to come in waves and right now the latest wave is ebbing."

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 73.11 points, or 0.57 percent, at 12,908.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.05 points, or 0.59 percent, at 1,362.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.92 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,936.63.

The Dow was on course to snap a six-day losing streak.

European shares rose 0.7 percent, bouncing off four-month lows.

The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits edged down last week, easing concerns the labor market was deteriorating after April's weak employment growth. Stocks were little changed after the data.

Cisco Systems Inc dropped 8.6 percent to $17.17 and was one of the biggest percentage decliner on the S&P. The network equipment maker forecast profits below Wall Street estimates.

On the upside, News Corp was a top gainer on the S&P after its earnings beat expectations late Wednesday and it announced a $5 billion in stock buyback. Shares climbed 5.2 percent to $20.38.

With 441 of the S&P 500 companies reporting results through Wednesday morning, 66.7 percent exceeded estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data, versus more than 80 percent at the start of earnings season.

In another troubling sign from abroad, China's imports grew just 0.3 percent in April, far below forecasts of an 11 percent increase. Exports grew 4.9 percent versus expectations of 8.5 percent, data showed.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)