NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as Wall Street gave a lukewarm response to Nvidia's latest results, despite the chipmaker's impressive growth streak, which has been a key driver of this year's market rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 243.63 points, or 0.59 percent, to 41,335.05. The S&P 500 sank 0.22 points, or 0.00 percent, to 5,591.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 39.60 points, or 0.23 percent, to 17,516.43.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and financials leading the gainers by going up 1.26 percent and 0.85 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, technology and consumer staples led the laggards by dropping 0.74 percent and 0.47 percent, respectively.
On the economic data front, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, in its second estimate released Thursday. This is an upward revision from the previously reported 2.8 percent rate.
Consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, was revised upward to a 2.9 percent growth rate, compared to the earlier estimate of 2.3 percent. This increase helped offset downward revisions in business investment, exports, and private inventory investment.
Meanwhile, weekly U.S. jobless claims fell to 231,000, slightly lower than the 232,000 expected by economists. Last week, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment growth may have been overstated by 68,000 jobs per month in the 12 months through March. However, most economists considered this benchmark revision estimate to be misleading.
