US stocks finish higher
Dow closes 69 points ahead
GDP data shows US economy strong
CLOSE
Wall Street shares continued their advance and finished higher as traders cheered decent US economic data.
The Dow Jones closed up 69 at 20,728, while the S&P500 added almost seven points to stand at 2,368.
The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index finished at a new record - up 16.8 at 5,914.
Official stats earlier showed the US economy, or GDP - the overall value of all goods and services produced by a country- rose at a 2.1% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, which was faster than the 1.9% rate - so it was an upwards revision.
Financial stocks in the US benefitted with regional banks in particular enjoyed sharp moves higher.
Zions Bancorp (NYSE: ZION) added 2.57% to $42.38 and Regions Financial (NSYE:RF) added 2.59% to $14.68.
Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) added 1.02%, First Horizon National Corp (NYSE: FHN) added 3% to $18.87. Pinnacle Financial Partners (NYSE: PNFP) added over 4% to $66.97.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was top of the Dow Industrials, adding over 2% to $83.7 as the oil price firmed.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) added 1.78% to stand at $50.39 a barrel.
MID-SESSION
US shares were convincingly ahead at mid-session with the Dow up over 64 points to 20.723.
Sentiment was lifted by economic data, which showed that the economy grew faster than initially reported in the fourth quarter of last year, at a pace of 2.1% against an analyst forecast of 2%.
The dollar was strengthened as the Fed speakers suggested rate rises may need to happen faster than expected to as the pace of growth strengthens.
US crude was also forging ahead, with the price of the black stuff adding 1.66% to US$50.33 a barrel.
In companies, Prana Biotechnology Limited (NASDAQ: PRAN) added almost 32% to $3.26 as the group unveiled positive pre-clinical data about its PBT434 therapy for treating movement disorders in Parkinson's disease.
The company will present what's called a poster showing in vivo (in living organisms) evidence of the ability of PBT434 to prevent the loss of neurons that underpin motor and cognitive dysfunction.
Also higher was Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:SIX), the world's largest theme park operator, whose shares gained 1.25% to stand at $59.25 a pop.
Today, the company expanded its share buy-back program, launched a $1.2bn debt offering, and decided it would not spin-off its real estate assets into a separate real estate investment trust (REIT).
The firm also said it expects to continue to grow its annual dividend at a high-single-digit to low-double-digit percentage range for a number of years.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was up over 8% to $49.78 and top riser on S&P500 as it offloaded its Canadian oil sands assets, following on from recent similar moves by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON: RDSA) and Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE:MRO).
On the losing front, Lululemon Athletica inc (NYSE: LULU) was down 23.61% after the sports goods group reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.
OPEN
US stocks pushed higher as the latest US economic data showed the economy started 2017 at a strong lick.
The economy grew faster than initially reported in the fourth quarter of last year, at a pace of 2.1% against an analyst forecast of 2%.
The shape of the US economy (county size = share of US GDP) https://t.co/qiBv8oISIH pic.twitter.com/89b6NmsSU5
— Max Galka (@galka_max) 26 March 2017
Notably, consumer spending was stronger than initially thought as people dig into their pockets more as they feel more confident, and led the overall upward revision. It grew at 3.5% - up from 3%.
Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at London-based City Index, said: “The stronger consumption data and better corporate profits goes some way to explain the pick-up in job growth in the US at the start of this year.
“If corporate profits can continue to rise in 2017 then we could see further strength in the US labour market, which could put more pressure on wage growth and on the Fed to hike interest rates, possibly more than the two rate hikes already anticipated by the Fed’s dot plot.”
On Wall Street, the benchmark Dow gained over 18 points at 20,677; the S&P500 was over two points higher at 2,363 and the tech heavy Nasdaq was up over 12 points at 5,909. Futures trading earlier had pointed to a lower start.
On S&P 500, the big gainer was ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), which became the latest oil major to offload its Canadian oil sands assets, following on from recent similar moves by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON: RDSA) and Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE:MRO).
Shares added almost 6% to stand at $48.68 in New York.
VF Corp (NSYE:VFC) the distributor of popular brands such as North Face, Timberland and Wrangler, outlined its plans for the next five years, and said it expects to return US$8 billion to shareholders in the period.
PREVIEW
US stocks are poised to start lower after a mixed finish on Wednesday and as traders eye US economic data due to be released this morning.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis is releasing its updated GDP (gross domestic product) report for the fourth quarter at 8:30 am eastern time.
This will be a useful gauge in terms of seeing how the US economy is doing and where it may be heading in forthcoming months under the relatively new President Trump. Commentators will undoubtedly be looking to see what it may say about possible interest rate rises for 2017.
Economists expect GDP grew by 2% in the three months, which is higher than an earlier estimate of 1.9%.
Mexico's economy is also in focus on Thursday and the central bank there is meeting to consider raising interest rates one more time to counter the Peso fall.
Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Index finished 42 lower at 20,659; the S&P500 and Nasdaq composite however stayed in the red - the latter closing 22 points ahead at 5,897 and the former (S&P) adding around two points at 2,361.
In futures today, the Dow is down 25 points, the Nasdaq is down five and the broader based S&P500 is down almost three points.
In company news, shares in sportswear giant Lululemon (NYSE: LULU) plummeted 19% in pre-market deals as the retailer warned of a sluggish first quarter amid stiffening competition in the sector.
It predicted its sales would fall this quarter.
Also with earnings today is science Applications International Corp (NYSE: SAIC), which Wall Street expects to report quarterly earnings at $0.78 per share on revenue of $1.09nbn before the bell.