(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished mostly higher on Friday as better than expected GDP data reinforced expectations of economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 17.15 points or 0.19% to finish at 9,171.61. The S&P 500 gained 0.73 points or 0.07% to end at 987.48. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 5.80 points or 0.29% to 1,978.50.
A release by the Commerce Department showed that real gross domestic product fell at a 1.0% annualized rate in the second quarter, compared with an average 5.5% drop in the previous quarter.
Economists expected GDP to decline 1.5 percent during the second quarter.
Bank of America (NYSE:
) 82 cents 5.87% $14.79.
Shares of diversified firm General Electric (NYSE:
) climbed 29 cents or 2.21% to $13.40.
Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:
) surged 30 cents or 2.62% to close at $11.76. Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:
) rose 65 cents or 1.50% to $44.06.
Shares of Walt Disney (NYSE:
), the largest US theme park operator, plunged $1.10 or 4.20% to $25.12.Late on Thursday, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:
) said that its third fiscal quarter profit declined 26% to $954 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.29 billion, or 66 cents a share, in the prior year's third quarter. Excluding items, the company said it would've earned 52 cents a share in the latest three months. Revenue fell 7% to $8.6 billion from $9.24 billion.
Early on Friday, Chevron Corp.
