Better reports on U.S. economy, jobs send stocks slightly higher on Wall Street; Verizon rises

8/29/2013

NEW YORK — Stocks closed slightly higher on Wall Street today after encouraging reports on the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 14,840 today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose three points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,638. The Nasdaq composite rose 26 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,620.

The government raised its estimate for U.S. economic growth in the April-through-June quarter to 2.5 percent from 1.7 percent. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits also continued to decline.

Verizon rose after Vodafone confirmed it was in talks to sell Verizon its stake in their U.S. joint venture, Verizon Wireless.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light at 2.5 billion shares.