Banking stocks lead Wall Street higher US equities moved higher in early activity on Thursday, despite persistent fears of instability from the eurozone. Kroger rose about 3 per cent to $21.88 as the grocery chain operator lifted its full-year profit estimates from earlier forecasts. The company said earnings per share were likely to increase to between $2.33 and $2.40, a range that is more than 2 per cent better than initially expected. Earlier this week, the grocer said it planned to sell private label coffee pods to compete with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters " Keurig single-cup machine. Shares of Green Mountain opened 1.2 per cent lower at $21.06. Overall, US equities rose at the start of Thursday trading. The S&P 500 was up 0.3 per cent to 1,318.23 in early morning trading. Investors, however, are still waiting for signs of a resolution of the European sovereign debt and banking woes. Increasingly, US investors" attentions have been dominated by events taking place in the eurozone. Moody's last night downgraded Spain's debt to BAA3 and Cyprus to BA3. Then we have the Greek elections on Sunday - bound to be very inconclusive," said David Buik, a business commentator at BGC Partners. He continued: "Yet the silence from Berlin and Brussels remains deafening. The Bundesbank wants no part of bank unification, though Merkel seems to be prepared to soften her stance to the EU sharing debts. Rumours and assumptions are hopeless. We need agreed policies. Economic data released by the US labour department showed jobless claims in the US climbed by 6,000 to 386,000. Consumer prices fell 0.3 per cent last month. Meanwhile, investors are looking for indications that the Federal Reserve will step up to relieve economic pressure by extending stimulus measures. The central bank's board of governors is set to meet next week. "According to this week's initial claims data the slowdown in the labour market appears more entrenched than is explained away by a simple weather-related payback," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak. Banks led gains in the mid-morning session, with the S&P 500 financials index rising 0.8 per cent to 512.15. Bank of America gained 1.2 per cent to $7.59, while Morgan Stanley added 0.8 per cent to $13.76. JPMorgan Chase increased 0.9 per cent to $34.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 0.3 per cent to 12,527.26. But Caterpillar , the biggest maker of earthmoving equipment, fell 0.2 per cent to $85.05. Elsewhere, Best Buy rose 1.7 per cent to $19.71. The electronic appliances retailer was upgraded by Citi to "hold" from "sell." The Nasdaq Composite Index ticked up 0.1 per cent to 2,821.01. Apple , the most heavily-weighted stock in the index, lost 0.1 per cent to $571.35, while social networking website Facebook added 1.1 per cent to $27.57. Quest Software jumped 8.1 per cent to $25.78, as the technology company said it received an acquisition proposal from an unnamed bidder for $25.5 a share.