US equities up on GDP news

US equities markets were up on Thursday on an upward revision of first-quarter growth figures for the US gross domestic product.

The new figures show that the US economy grew by 3.5 percent last quarter, up from the previously reported 3.1
percent.

This was still a bit below the expected figure of 3.6 percent, but at least one analyst said that a higher number would have meant that the recent interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve were not having the desired effect.

Homebuilders especially benefited because the new GDP figures make it less likely that the Fed will begin to raise interest rates at a faster pace. Home construction and financing group Toll Brothers was their shares rise 6.7 percent to $91.50.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8 percent to 10,537.60, led by a 3 percent rise in shares of American International Group to $55.71 after news that the attorney general of New York had filed a lawsuit against the company and two former executives.

The Nasdaq was helped higher by gains in the semiconductor sector, gaining 1 percent to 2,071.24. Semiconductors rose after the release of a report by IC Insights that predicted a 4 percent rise in sales of computer chips worldwide this year. Shares in Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, rose 1.4 percent to $27.37.

The S&P 500 was also up, 0.6 percent to 1,197.66.

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