Wall Street up amid mixed data from firms

NEW YORK, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street inched up in early trading Thursday amid mixed corporation reports and after better-than-expected job reports.

The U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 53,000 to 357,000 last week, better than economists had expected.

Retailers that have revealed same-store sales figures for March generally revealed worse-than-forecast results, including Pacific Sunwear, Limited Brands. But Wal-Mart Stores, the world's top retailer, posted a 0.7-percent same-store sales rise and lifted its view on first-quarter earnings.

Chemicals giant DuPont lifted its first-quarter outlook, though the second-quarter earnings are expected to miss analyst estimates.

In addition, Microsoft reportedly is talking with News Corp. on the possibility of a joint bid for Yahoo.

The Dow Jones rose 20.68 to 12,547.94. Broader indexes also climbed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 1.03 to 1,355.52;and the Nasdaq rose 10.73 to 2,332.85.