Stocks inch higher in early trading on Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are edging higher in early trading on Wall Street, held back by a weak economic growth report for the final quarter of 2012.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 13 points at 14,088 shortly after the opening bell Thursday. It's about 73 points below the record high it reached in October 2007.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose three points to 1,519, and the Nasdaq composite was up nine points at 3,172.

The government reported that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.1 percent from October through December, the worst showing in nearly two years. That was worse than economists were expecting.

J.C. Penney plunged 18 percent in early trading after the struggling department store chain posted a $985 million loss for 2012.