US Stocks Close Mixed After Gdp Revised Up

NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- US stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as Wall Street gave a lukewarm response to Nvidia's latest results, despite the chipmaker's impressive growth streak, which has been a key driver of this year's market rally, reported Xinhua.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 243.63 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 41,335.05. The S&P 500 sank 0.22 points to 5,591.96, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 39.60 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 17,516.43.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and financials leading the gainers by going up 1.26 per cent and 0.85 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, technology and consumer staples led the laggards by dropping 0.74 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively.

On the economic data front, US gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualised rate of 3.0 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, in its second estimate released on Thursday. This is an upward revision from the previously reported 2.8 per cent rate.

Consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the US economy, was revised upward to a 2.9 per cent growth rate, compared to the earlier estimate of 2.3 per cent. This increase helped offset downward revisions in business investment, exports, and private inventory investment.

Meanwhile, weekly US jobless claims fell to 231,000, slightly lower than the 232,000 expected by economists.

Last week, the Labour Department's Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that employment growth may have been overstated by 68,000 jobs per month in the 12 months through March. However, most economists considered this benchmark revision estimate to be misleading.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA