NEW YORK: Wall Street opened with gains on Thursday, boosted by data showing a slowdown in and stronger than expected economic growth, offering new hope for the economic recovery.
"The US equity markets are moving higher in early action to close out the third quarter and the final session of the uncharacteristically strong September," said analysts at Charles Schwab.
Trade was also buoyed by a six percent rise in AIG shares after the troubled US insurer said it reached a deal to repay a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailout received at the height of the global financial crisis.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.93 points (0.77 percent) to 10,919.21 in opening trade, while the broader S&P 500 index was up 10.75 points (0.97 percent) to 1,155.85 points.
The tech-rich composite index gained 18.31 points (0.74 percent) to 2,394.05 points.
Shortly before the opening bell, the Department of Commerce said the US economy grew slightly in the second quarter of 2010.
Gross domestic product, which measures the output of goods and services in the United States, increased at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, it said.
The figure marks a sharp decline from the first quarter, when real GDP increased 3.7 percent.
At the same time, the Labor Department released figures showing the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week for the third time in four weeks.
Claims for the week to September 25 fell to 453,000, down 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure, according to the Labor Department.
The latest figure was better than most economists' expectations of 457,000 new claims, in keeping with recent data showing the ailing US economy was recovering from its worst recession in decades, albeit at a slow pace.
On Wednesday, Wall Street closed below the red line as traders continued to speculate on a Federal Reserve intervention to buttress the economy.
"The US equity markets are moving higher in early action to close out the third quarter and the final session of the uncharacteristically strong September," said analysts at Charles Schwab.
Trade was also buoyed by a six percent rise in AIG shares after the troubled US insurer said it reached a deal to repay a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailout received at the height of the global financial crisis.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 83.93 points (0.77 percent) to 10,919.21 in opening trade, while the broader S&P 500 index was up 10.75 points (0.97 percent) to 1,155.85 points.
The tech-rich composite index gained 18.31 points (0.74 percent) to 2,394.05 points.
Shortly before the opening bell, the Department of Commerce said the US economy grew slightly in the second quarter of 2010.
Gross domestic product, which measures the output of goods and services in the United States, increased at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, it said.
The figure marks a sharp decline from the first quarter, when real GDP increased 3.7 percent.
At the same time, the Labor Department released figures showing the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week for the third time in four weeks.
Claims for the week to September 25 fell to 453,000, down 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure, according to the Labor Department.
The latest figure was better than most economists' expectations of 457,000 new claims, in keeping with recent data showing the ailing US economy was recovering from its worst recession in decades, albeit at a slow pace.
On Wednesday, Wall Street closed below the red line as traders continued to speculate on a Federal Reserve intervention to buttress the economy.
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