Data, Commodities Boost Dow

Wall Street climbed cautiously higher Thursday morning as the markets look to build on Wednesday’s mini rally and the bulls breathed a sigh of relief that jobless claims tumbled last week by more than expected. Today's Markets As of 10:24 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.22 points, or 0.14%, to 10074.91, the S&P 500 gained 3.34 points, or 0.32%, to 1058.67 and the Nasdaq Composite picked up 6.26 points, or 0.29%, to 2147.75. The FOX 50 advanced 1.91 points, or 0.25%, to 767.73. The early gains were driven by economically-sensitive basic materials and industrial stocks, which benefited from a rare break in the gloomy economic headlines. The groups also rallied around a 2% jump in the price of copper and crude oil retaking $73 a barrel. Wall Street’s economic jitters were eased a bit on Thursday after the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 31,000 last week to 473,000, surprising economists who had forecasted a 15,000-claim drop. While still elevated, it’s a positive development that claims dropped back below the 500,000 level from last week that represented a 2010 high. Commodities ticked mostly higher in the wake of the economic headlines. Crude oil rose 95 cents a barrel, or 1.30%, to $73.47. Copper soared 2.60% a pound to $3.315. On the other hand, gold retreated, sinking $2.90 a troy ounce, or 0.22%, to $1,238.40. In the tech world, 3Par

said it has accepted a newly-sweetened takeover bid from Dell

to acquire the data storage company for $24.30 a share. Dell had previously offered $18 a share but that was quickly trumped by a $24-a-share bid from rival Hewlett-Packard

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