Investing.com – Wall Street was modestly higher on Wednesday on data showing the U.S. economy still in decent health, notwithstanding the lack of a long-promised breakthrough in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
The Dow was flat at 28,113.83 points by 9:38 AM ET (13:38 GMT), while the S&P 500 inched up 4 points or 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite gained 22 points or 0.3%.
The Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product increased at a 2.1% annualized rate, a touch higher than first thought. The revision was however due largely to a faster buildup in inventories rather than final demand.
The market remains supported by official comments insisting that a de-escalation of the U.S.-China trade war is in sight. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. was in the "final throes" of a deal with China, but also underscored Washington's support for protesters in Hong Kong, which has angered Beijing.
"There's that drumbeat about an impending trade deal and that's going to keep stocks moving higher," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh.
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) slumped 5.1% after the agriculture company noted uncertainty in its latest earnings report, even though sales rose in its fiscal fourth quarter, while Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) slipped 4.2% after cutting its revenue guidance. Boeing (NYSE:BA)was down 1.3% after the Federal Aviation Administration said it would take charge of inspecting and signing off on any newly manufactured 737 Max jets, which could further slow the return of the grounded airplanes to service.
Elsewhere, Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) jumped 5.6% on an analyst upgrade, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.7% on reports that it asked one of its Chinese manufacturers to double AirPods production.
In commodities, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2% to 98.335 and gold futures lost 0.4% to $1,461.15 a troy ounce. Crude oil futures lost 0.1% to $58.37 a barrel.
-Reuters contributed to this report