Stocks Reach Record Highs After a Week of Bullish Data

Among the good news: a new report showed that consumer spending and business investments were higher than previously thought

  • Share
  • Read Later
Associated Press

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index closed at record highs today, buoyed by revised GDP figures which showed that the U.S. economy grew at a 4.1% annualized clip in the third quarter of 2013.

The Dow rose 0.31% to 16229.88, while the S&P gained 0.48% to reach 1818.36. The tech-heavy NASDAQ also saw gains–rising 1.15% to 4104.74.

“We’re ending 2013 in a good place; the global economy appears to be in slow-growth mode as evidenced this morning in the U.S. with favorable GDP numbers,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told CNBC

The Commerce Department report was a revision of a previous reading which said that the economy grew at a 3.6% annualized rate. The revision revealed that both consumer spending and business investment were higher than previously thought–two areas economy watchers look for as signs of sustainable growth.

Today’s bullish data followed a good day for markets yesterday, when stocks rose on the Fed’s decision to its stimulus in the face of improving economic conditions, as well as data which showed strong growth in the housing-construction sector.