US: Stocks snap 4-day slide

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks rose Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak as traders shrugged off weaker-than-expected US economic growth in the fourth quarter.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,709.76, up 31.53 points (0.18 per cent).

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 4.62 (0.22 per cent) to 2,060.77, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 27.86 (0.57 per cent) at 4,891.22.

US economic growth came in at an annual rate of 2.2 per cent for the final quarter of 2014, less than the 2.4 per cent projected by analysts and unchanged from the prior estimate, according to Commerce Department data.

US stocks fell the first four days of the week on worries about the crisis in Yemen and excessive equity valuations.

"We had so many down days that the market is due for some sort of a pause, but there is nothing really positive or encouraging to help push prices meaningfully higher," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at S&P Capital IQ.

AFP