U.S. stocks on Thursday were tilting slightly higher from a tentative start after the government raised its estimate of first-quarter economic growth and reported a modest rise in weekly jobless claims.

In line with expectations, the Commerce Department revised its reading of first-quarter gross domestic product to an annual rate of 0.9%, above its previous estimate of 0.6%.

"As long as the number holds above 0.5% we are still skirting the term 'recession.' Stronger would obviously be better," said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, who cited better inventory numbers and improved exports for the upward revision.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said unemployment claims rose 4,000 to 372,000, a bit more than forecast. .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 4.88 points to 12,598.91, with Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) (AA) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ-NMS:INTC) (INTC) fronting the early declines, both off nearly 2%.

The S&P 500 (SPX) was up 0.57 of a point at 1,391.41, while the Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) edged 4.48 points higher to 2,491.18.

Oil futures fell in the early going ahead of weekly supply data later in the day, with crude for July delivery down $2.28, or 1.7%, at $128.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ-NMS:COST) (COST) were up 0.5% after the nation's largest warehouse retailer reported stronger-than-expected results for the third quarter.

On the deal-making front, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) (BMY) said it would buy Kosan Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS:KOSN) (KOSN) in a transaction valued at about $190 million.

In other M&A activity, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ-NMS:TRMP) (DJTE) said it would sell Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City to Coastal Marina LLC for $316 million.

    (END) Dow Jones Newswires   05-29-08 0954   Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.