NEW YORK - US stocks closed higher on Thursday after Nasdaq suspended trading of all stocks for about three hours.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.19 points, or 0.44 percent, to 14,963.74 points. The broader S&P 500 gained 14.16 points, or 0.86 percent, to 1,656.96 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased 38.92 points, or 1.08 percent, to 3,638.71 points.

A woman holds an umbrella past the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York's Times Square, August 22, 2013. All trading on Nasdaq, the second-biggest U.S. stock exchange, was halted on Thursday shortly after midday due to a technical problem, the exchange said.[Photo/Agencies]

Full trading on Nasdaq stock market resumed at 3:25 pm (1925 GMT), about three hours after all traffic through the exchange stopped due to technical problems.

Shares of the Nasdaq OMX Group, the operator of Nasdaq, closed 3.84 percent lower to $30.33 dollars on the trading glitch. No detailed reasons have been given about the shutdown.

Despite the trading glitch, Wall Street held gains as manufacturing activities came in positive around the globe.

The preview of US manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index ( PMI) for August provided by market research group Markit rose to a five-month high of 53.9, higher than July's final reading of 53.7 and in line with market expectations.

Moreover, HSBC's preliminary reading of Chinese PMI for August surprisingly expanded for the first time in four months. Eurozone flash manufacturing PMI for August also rose to an over two-year high, according to Markit.

Among other data out of the United States, the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index for June gained 0.7 percent after rising 0.8 percent in May, showing the housing sector continues to mend.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted jobless initial claims stood at 336,000 in the week ending August 17, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 323,000, the US Labor Department said Thursday. But the number remained near a six- year low.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile gauge, was 330, 500, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 332,750.