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* Data shows U.S. economic growth picked up slightly in Q3
* Deere falls after warning of lower earnings
* Dow up 0.15%, S&P 500 up 0.42%, Nasdaq up 0.66%
(Updates to market close, changes byline)
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes closed at
record levels for a third straight day in a muted volume session
on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, as fresh data
pointed to an economy on solid footing, while investors remained
cautiously optimistic about a resolution to U.S.-China trade
tensions.
U.S. economic growth picked up slightly in the third
quarter, rather than slowing as first reported, and a steady
increase in consumer spending in October indicated the economy
will probably maintain its moderate pace of growth in the fourth
quarter. "From a macro perspective it really sits with the narrative
of this growing but continue to slow environment," said Bill
Northey senior investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth
Management in Minneapolis.
"It averted some of the greater concerns that this might be
something more than just a slowdown to trend that we've been
facing over the past quarter."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 42.32 points,
or 0.15%, to 28,164, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.13 points, or
0.42%, to 3,153.65 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 57.24
points, or 0.66%, to 8,705.18.
Consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD rose 0.83 to lead
all sectors.
Data also showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods
increased by the most in nine months in October. President Donald Trump's comments on Tuesday that the United
States was in the "final throes" of work on an agreement with
China added to optimism. The main indexes have repeatedly scaled to record levels
this month on trade truce hopes, a third-quarter earnings season
that topped lowered expectations and a dovish Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 has now closed at a record level in five of the past
nine sessions.
Trading volumes were among the lowest of the year for a
full-day session ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday on
Thursday. The stock market will close early on Friday.
Capping gains on the Dow was a 1.48% drop in shares of
Boeing Co BA.N after the Federal Aviation Administration said
it would be the only issuer of airworthiness certificates for
new 737 MAX jets, the latest hurdle in the planemaker's bid to
get the plane back in the air. Deere & Co DE.N dropped 4.30% as the farm equipment maker
warned of lower earnings in 2020. Under Armour Inc UAA.N jumped 6.17% as Raymond James
upgraded the sportswear maker to "strong buy".
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.76-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.98-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 44 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 117 new highs and 35 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.57 billion shares, compared
to the 7.06 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.