NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks trended slightly higher before the opening bell Thursday, as investors digested two positive economic reports.

At 8:35 a.m. ET, futures pointed to a slightly higher open for the major indexes.

The government said revised first-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economy, rose 1.9 percent. The jump from a preliminary reading of 1.6 percent was in-line with economists' average expectations, according to Briefing.com.

Separately, unemployment benefits claims fell to 424,000 in the latest week from revised 433,000 in the prior week. Economists anticipated a decline in the week ended May 24 to 420,000 from 426,000 the week before.

The weekly jobless claims data has gained increasing importance lately as one of the more up-to-date economic indicators. While claims fell, they still came in above the key 400,000 level -- which indicates contraction in the job market.

With its 0.1 percent gain, the Dow Jones industrial average rose for the fifth straight day Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite index's 0.4 percent advance left it at its highest level since June 5 of last year. The S&P also reached its highest point in more than nine months with a 0.2 percent rise.

On the corporate front, Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates), Ask Jeeves (ASKJ: Research, Estimates) and Celgene (CELG: Research, Estimates) could make large moves Thursday, after all three said they would sell debt that can be converted into stock. Internet portal Ask Jeeves slipped 2.3 percent in pre-market trading, while Lucent dipped 3.9 percent. Shares of biotech company Celgene fell 3.5 percent in trading Wednesday.

Asian-Pacific stocks finished higher Thursday, with Tokyo's Nikkei index up 1.7 percent. European markets were mixed at midday.

Among U.S. stocks trading in Europe, Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) was unchanged. The online retailer said it plans to expand to new areas in the coming year, although it didn't specify which product categories it would pursue.

Treasury prices fell in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield up to 3.43 percent from 3.41 percent late Wednesday. The dollar slipped slightly against the euro in early trading, but gained against the yen.

Brent oil futures slipped 4 cents to $26.08 a barrel in London, where gold advanced in early trading.  

-- from staff and wire reports