Wall St extends rally on earnings hopes Wall Street brushed aside a second consecutive downbeat jobs report and continued to recoup losses from its worst slide since last November in early trading on Thursday. Delta Air Lines , whose 2011 fuel costs were $11.8bn last year, was among the morning's top risers gaining more than 4 per cent to $10.31. The Atlanta-based US carrier could save up to 10 per cent a year on its fuel needs if it goes ahead with the purchase of an oil refinery in Pennsylvania, a Bloomberg report said citing a person familiar with the discussions between Delta and ConocoPhillips . A deal, if completed, would be a unique effort by an airline to save on hefty fuel costs, which for Delta accounted for more than one-third of its annual spending. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose for a second straight session, adding 0.4 per cent to 1,373.76. The benchmark US index shook off a fresh jobs report that showed first-time claims for jobless benefits rose last week to 380,000. The figure which went up by 13,000 in the week to April 7 came in worse than analyst estimates of 359,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 12,847.70, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.5 per cent to 3,030.89. Aluminium manufacturer Alcoa continued to add to its gains after reporting better than expected first-quarter results. Shares in the company rose another 1.6 per cent in the morning session to $10.06. Bed, Bath & Beyond fell 1 per cent to $69.34 as the home goods retailer had its equity downgraded from "buy" to "hold" by analysts at Canaccord Genuity, who said there was limited upside to shares at their present level. Laura Champine, analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said: "We calculate that Bed, Bath & Beyond's market share declined in [its fourth quarter] for the first time this decade, and we expect a deceleration of top-and-bottom line growth in [its current financial year] and beyond." LinkedIn , the online professional networking site, climbed 4.3 per cent to $101.81, crossing the $100 threshold for the first time since last Wednesday. Shares in LinkedIn are now up 62 per cent on the year. Groupon , the offers and daily deals website, rose 4.3 per cent to $13.64 moving away from an all-time low struck earlier in the week.