Stocks Roar Ahead as Report Shows Economic Muscle
Wall Street barreled higher Thursday after a better-than-expected reading on gross domestic product and a drop in jobless claims gave investors some reassurance that the economy is holding up.</br></br>A decline in oil prices also appeared to add force to the rally in stocks. But trading volume was again light heading toward the Labor Day weekend, a condition that can magnify price moves.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 212.67, or 1.85 percent, to 11,715.18, bringing its three-day advance to nearly 330 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 19.02, or 1.48 percent, to 1300.68, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 29.18, or 1.22 percent, to 2411.64.</br></br>The Commerce Department's report that gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 3.3 percent for the April-June quarter followed several economic readings this week that have left investors somewhat optimistic. The weaker dollar helped boost U.S. exports, which pushed GDP growth beyond the government's initial estimate of 1.9 percent, as well as economists' forecast of 2.7 percent.</br></br>It marked the economy's best performance since the third quarter of last year, when GDP rose at a 4.8 percent pace.