- US Job Losses to Bottom out Next Quarter: NABE
- Late Payments on Credit Cards Drop in Third Quarter
- Smallest US Businesses Borrowing Again: PayNet
- Little Sign of Inflation on the Horizon: IMF
- Kraft Weighs Higher Cadbury Bid as Rivals Circle
- MBS Program Should be Extended: Fed's Bullard
- JPMorgan's Dimon Could Succeed Geithner: Report
- Wall Street Finds Profits by Reducing Mortgages
- Microsoft, News Corp Weigh Online News Pact
- CNBC VIDEO: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates 'Walk & Talk' at Columbia University
- U.S. Stocks Slip, Dollar Rises
- How Stock Investors Can Play Holiday Travel
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Hirschhorn: Greed...or Fear
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- May Day For Dendreon
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
MOST SHARED
- Wall Street Finds Profits by Reducing Mortgages
- CNBC VIDEO: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates 'Walk & Talk' at Columbia University
- What if a Recovery Is All in Your Head?
- Kraft Weighs Higher Cadbury Bid as Rivals Circle
- China Should Stop Property Stimulus Now: Central Bank
- China Wind Power Reportedly Seeking $2.2 Billion in IPO
Text Size 
CNBC.com
Stocks rallied Thursday, rebounding off of the prior session's rout, after reports showed the economy grew more than expected last quarter and jobless claims fell.
In the final hour of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up more than 200 points, the first time it's been up that much since July. The Nasdaq, which has been beaten down lately, jumped 2 percent, and the S&P 500 gained more than 2 percent.
Alcoa [AA
Loading...
()
] and Procter & Gamble [PG
Loading...
()
] were among the biggest Dow gainers, while Merck [MRK
Loading...
()
], ExxonMobil [XOM
Loading...
()
] and one of the prior session's leaders, AT&T [T
Loading...
()
], were the biggest drags on the Dow.
The much-anticipated government report on gross domestic product delivered on hopes that the economy was back in positive territory following a crippling recession: The economy grew at a 3.5 percent clip in the third quarter, ahead of even the healthiest expectations.
At the same time, weekly jobless claims fell and the four-week moving average, widely considered a more accurate barometer of the employment picture, pulled back even more sharply.
However, economists suggest the third quarter may be as good as it gets and growth may taper in the fourth quarter and into 2010.
"The expansion in Q3 GDP (3.5%) shows we have clearly begun to emerge from the trough," Bart van Ark, chief economist of The Conference Board, wrote in a note following the report. "But there’s still a long way to go," he said, "and we still don’t know enough about the sustainability of these recovery signals."
Another round of positive earnings results helped buoy the market: Procter & Gamble and Motorola [MOT
Loading...
()
] both delivered better-than-expected results that sent their shares higher.
On the downside, ExxonMobil [XOM
Loading...
()
] disappointed the market with earnings per share of 98 cents, 5 cents below expectation, as oil prices were down sharply from a year earlier and fuel demand waned.
The dollar pulled back after gaining on Wednesday. Oil prices rose to about $79 a barrel. Gold jumped about $8.
Financials rebounded, after being among the biggest decliners in the prior session. Citigroup [C
Loading...
()
] jumped about 4 percent; Dow components Bank of America [BAC
Loading...
()
] and JPMorgan [JPM
Loading...
()
] were up more than 2 percent.
In Washington, some surprising comments from the Treasury Secretary. In testimony before a House panel, Tim Geithner said the Federal Reserve should lose its authority to bail out big financial firms like AIG and Bear Stearns, but should remain the lender of last resort.
And Democrats are unveiling the House plan for health-care reform today.
Other events on the calendar today include a speech by National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers in New York at 12:15 pm New York time, and a $31 billion dollar auction of 7-year Treasury notes, with results available shortly after 1pm.
Still to Come:
THURSDAY: 80th anniversary of 1929 market crash; Larry Summers speaks in NYC
FRIDAY: Personal income and spending; consumer sentiment; Earnings from Chevron
Send comments to .
- Technology can make or break a fortune in the world of alternative energy.
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates discuss the economy and other subjects with CNBC's Becky Quick.
- Many people are facing the holidays with substantially smaller incomes. Here’s how some are adapting.
- The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show attracts a big TV audience every year, but this year it may take on even more importance.
- Jim Cramer is a proponent of stocks that pay healthy dividends, and here are his top five dividend plays.
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes