S&P 500 ends at 7-week high on Thursday, stocks jump after U.S. economy posts 4th quarter growth

Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher Thursday, with the S&P 500 ending at 7-week highs after the official scorecard of the American economy showed a strong 2.9% annual rate of growth for the fourth quarter of 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 204 points, or 0.6%, ending near 33,948, close to the session’s high. But the day’s bigger gains came from the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite Index , which gained 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively. The S&P 500 ended at its highest close since Dec. 2, according to preliminary FactSet data. The U.S. economy reported a robust quarterly gain to end the year on Thursday, which helped advance risk-taking on Wall Street, even though many economist still expect the U.S. to face tougher odds of avoiding a recession in 2023 as the Fed plans to keep increasing rates in the next few months, and to keep them high for some time as part of its inflation fight.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.