US STOCKS-Market turns up; financial stocks strengthen

(Updates to show the indexes turning higher)

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks turned higher on Thursday as financial shares recovered further on hopes that an end to write-downs for big financial companies may be in sight.

A pullback in crude oil prices, as well a slight recovery in the dollar, also boosted sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 37.70 points, or 0.31 percent, at 12,147.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 5.51 points, or 0.42 percent, at 1,314.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 17.46 points, or 0.78 percent, at 2,261.33. The Nasdaq briefly rose more than 1 percent. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)