1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks extend gains after big rally

U.S. stocks continued to rise on Thursday as Wall Street cheered over the improvement in Greek debt situation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 38.97 points, or 0. 22 percent, to 18,039.37. The S&P 500 added 3.66 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,108.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 5.82 points, or 0.11 percent, to 5,082.51.

Greece is trying to reach a deal with international lenders to address its debt crisis and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appeared optimistic about it. Tsipras early Thursday expected that Greece would soon reach a compromise with its international lenders in time to stave off bankruptcy, after the latest round of talks in Brussels.

Tsipras is currently attending a European Union (EU) and Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit at the EU headquarters in Brussels, where Greece is continuing its talks for a debt deal.

Many analysts believed that Greece would come to a deal with its creditors.

As talks in Brussels continue, pressure for a swift solution increases. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's late Wednesday downgraded Greece's credit rating further into junk territory to CCC- from CCC+ with a negative outlook.

The agency's experts warned that without an agreement, Greece " will likely default on its commercial debt within the next 12 months."

On the economic front, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Thursday that advance estimate of U.S. retail and food service sales for May were 444.9 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 1.2 percent from the previous month, and 2.7 percent above May 2014.

In the week ending June 6, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 279,000, slightly above expectations, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U. S. Labor Department said Thursday.

U.S. stocks rebounded strongly Wednesday, with all the three major indices jumping over 1 percent. Endite