US stocks closed mixed Thursday after China lowered interest rates to spur its slowing economy, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dented stimulus hopes for the United States.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46.17 points, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 12,460.96, extending Wednesday's huge 2.4 percent rally that had put the blue-chip index back in positive territory for the year.

The broad-market S&P 500 was flat, down 0.14 point (0.01 percent) to 1,314.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite fell 13.70 (0.48 percent) to 2,831.02, weighed down by Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle.

US stocks shredded earlier gains of roughly one percent after Fed Chairman Bernanke did not signal the need for new stimulus in testimony to Congress.

While Bernanke told lawmakers that the European financial crisis and mandated spending cuts pose big risks for the economy, "None of the chairman's comments suggested that the Fed has a new outlook or plans for policy adjustment," Briefing.com analysts said.

Wall Street bulls found early support after China lowered its key interest rates by a quarter percentage point to spur growth, the first cut since 2008.

The first drop in initial US jobless claims after four consecutive weeks of increases added a bit of bounce to sentiment.

United Technologies led the Dow higher, up 2.4 percent. Boeing added 1.4 percent, Caterpillar gained 1.3 percent and Home Depot, the do-it-yourself retail giant, rose 1.3 percent.

Financials suffered. Goldman Sachs dropped 1.0 percent, Bank of America tumbled 2.9 percent and JPMorgan Chase lost 0.8 percent.

On the Nasdaq, Oracle was down 0.4 percent after unveiling its entry into the public Internet cloud, Oracle Cloud.

Microsoft slipped 0.4 percent and Cisco shed 0.6 percent.

Electronics retailer Best Buy fell almost one percent after its founder and chairman Richard Schulze resigned and said he was looking to sell his 20.1 percent stake.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was unchanged at 1.65 percent from Wednesday, while the 30-year climbed to 2.76 percent from 2.72 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.