US close: Markets gain after better than expected GDP data

US stocks advanced on Thursday, following better-than-expected real gross domestic product (GDP) data, fuelling speculation the economy is strong enough to withstand higher interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial average closed 221.11 points up to 17,195.420,while the S&P 500 gained 12.35 points to 1,994.65 and the Nasdaq closed 10.08 points up to 4,096.22.

Data released on Thursday showed US GDP rose an annualised 3.5% in the third quarter of 2014, exceeding consensus estimates of a 3.0% rise.

Government spending increased to 4.6%, driven by a 16% rise in federal defence spending, the largest increase in five years, while business investment spending rose 5.5% and real consumer spending advanced slightly more than expected to 1.8%.

“The GDP figure was stronger than expected, the fact that the surprise was in defence spending, which is unlikely to be repeated, leads us not to extrapolate the stronger growth into future quarters,” Barclays said in a note, adding that it expected real GDP growth to be 2.5% in the final quarter of 2014.

Figures published by the Labor Department showed that the number of Americans who applied for new unemployment benefits in October remained below the 300,000 unit for the seventh consecutive week.

In the week ended 25 October, initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 287,000, in line with consensus expectations of 285,000, while claims for the previous week were revised to 284,000, as the four-week moving average remained at 281,000, its lowest level since 2000.

In corporate news, Visa rallied 10.24% after fourth quarter earnings fell less than analysts expectations, while rival Mastercard rose 9.40% after its third quarter profit and sales also beat analyst estimates.

Lakeland Industries soared 22.97% after the maker of hazmat suits announced it accelerated manufacturing capacity due to the Ebola crisis.

Take-Two Interactive Software rose 10.83% after reporting losses that were less severe than previously anticipated, while Harman International Industries advanced 7.46% after posting first quarter adjusted earnings of $1.31 a share above the $1.12 a share forecast by analysts.

Kraft Food fell 1.32% after reporting its third quarter profit from $500m to $446m, while Avon Products shares dropped 9.03%, even though the firm topped analysts’ estimates after positive results in Europe.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note was stable at 2.31%, while the yield on the 30-year note fell one basis poin to 3.04 and the five-year Treasuries were unchanged at 1.58.

Gold futures slid to $1,198.80, while West Texas intermediate and Brent crude both retreated and closed at just over $81 and just over $86 respectively.

The dollar advanced marginally against the pound, the euro and the yen.

S&P 500 - Risers
Visa Inc. (V) $236.65 +10.24%
Mastercard Inc. (MA) $83.13 +9.40%
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) $58.98 +8.90%
Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) $108.87 +7.46%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $59.83 +6.44%
Amerisource Bergen Corp. (ABC) $84.84 +6.40%
Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $24.96 +6.08%
Allegion (ALLE) $52.64 +4.67%
Hospira Inc. (HSP) $54.24 +4.17%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $161.33 +4.08%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $9.97 -9.03%
Ball Corp (BLL) $63.30 -4.94%
Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $54.37 -4.38%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $69.22 -3.99%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.58 -3.95%
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $30.39 -3.83%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $12.21 -3.17%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $28.08 -3.14%
Unum Group (UNM) $33.46 -3.13%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $82.39 -2.93%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Visa Inc. (V) $236.65 +10.24%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $57.31 +1.98%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $107.04 +1.40%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $67.66 +1.29%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $29.84 +1.19%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $93.00 +1.14%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $97.52 +1.14%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.40 +1.07%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $93.88 +0.99%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $90.22 +0.77%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.58 -3.95%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $46.05 -1.22%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $94.45 -0.15%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $24.08 -0.08%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $100.16 -0.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Catamaran Corp (CTRX) $47.54 +12.87%
Equinix Inc. (EQIX) $207.47 +7.82%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $59.83 +6.44%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $237.01 +5.55%
F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $121.78 +3.98%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $6.42 +3.55%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $114.22 +3.16%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $52.37 +2.99%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $19.58 +2.84%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $47.98 +2.70%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $69.22 -3.99%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.58 -3.95%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $82.39 -2.93%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $35.94 -2.92%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $65.41 -2.45%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $74.11 -2.31%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $47.53 -1.66%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $28.40 -1.63%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $31.82 -1.43%
Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT) $56.16 -1.32%