Stocks rise as GDP growth beats, Tesla slides

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  Thu, January 25, 2024 at 7:33 AM MST

  US stocks rise amid hotter than expected US economic growth print

  Equities opened higher Thursday after a preliminary economic growth reading in the US came in hotter than expected.

  Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 0.3%, while S&P 500 (^GSPC) opened 0.4% higher following the benchmark’s fourth-in-a-row record close logged on Wednesday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.4%.

  An advance estimate of fourth quarter US gross domestic product (GDP) showed the economy grew at an annualized pace of 3.3% during the period, much hotter than the annualized pace of 2% expected by economists.

  Equities rose despite a downbeat earnings release from Tesla (TSLA) on Wednesday. The EV giant missed on profit in its latest quarter and warned of “notably” slower production growth. Tesla shares fell about 7% on Thursday morning.

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  Thu, January 25, 2024 at 6:34 AM MST

  US economy grows at 3.3% rate in Q4, topping estimates

  The US economy continues to impress.

  The first look at fourth quarter GDP growth released Thursday showed the economy grew at an annualized pace of 3.3% in the final three months of 2023. Economists had expected growth to come in at a rate of 2%, according to data from Bloomberg.

  With this reading, the initial estimate on cumulative GDP growth for 2023 shows the economy grew 2.5% last year, an acceleration from 1.9% growth seen in 2022. The economy grew in all four quarters of the year and has now expanded for six quarters in a row.

  In its release, the BEA said the fourth quarter’s growth was driven by “increases in consumer spending, exports, state and local government spending, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, private inventory investment, and residential fixed investment.”