NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market rose Thursday as positive economic reports outweighed worries about escalating tensions with Syria.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 14,900 in early afternoon trading, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 10 points, or 0.6 percent, at 1,645. The Nasdaq composite rose more sharply, gaining 39 points, or 1.1 percent, to 3,632.
Verizon Communications was the biggest gainer in the Dow after Britain's Vodafone confirmed it was in talks with Verizon to sell its 45 percent stake their joint venture, Verizon Wireless.
Verizon rose $1.55, or 3.3 percent to $48.10. The U.S.-listed shares of Vodafone rose $2.25, or 7.7 percent, to $31.67 on the news.
The stock market recovered much its loss from Tuesday, when the Dow fell 170 points as the U.S. denounced last week's attack in Syria. While many fund managers said they're not looking to jump back into the market just yet, some individual companies are starting to look attractive again.
"If you're a long-term investor, it's an opportunity," said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co., which has $1.9 billion under management. He noted a new investment, the retail chain PetSmart, as an example.
Wayne Wilbanks, chief investment officer at the asset management firm Wilbanks, Smith & Thomas, said the market might have been oversold, given the last two weeks of aggressive selling, He also cautioned that the gains made in the last two days may not last.
"Be very careful. You haven't missed out on much if you've sat on the sidelines since May," Wilbanks said. "I'm not putting a lot of money to work here."
Traders focused on economic data that came out early Thursday. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from April through June, much faster than previously estimated, the government said. The figure was revised up from 1.7 percent as more U.S. companies exported goods and imports declined.
Also, the Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits last week fell to 331,000, the fewest in five years.
"It does support our belief that August was another month of steady employment growth," economists with the investment bank RBS wrote in a research report.
While lower unemployment claims and an upward revision on GDP are both positive signs, most of Wall Street's attention is focused on next week, when the August jobs report will be released. The Federal Reserve is expected to decide the fate of its massive bond-buying program in mid-September, and the jobs survey will be the last bit of significant economic data the Fed will have to consider before making its decision.
Traders also continue to watch Syria, where a U.S-led strike could happen in the coming days.
Investors worry that a limited strike against Syria could drag the U.S. and its allies into that nation's civil war, or worse, set off a regional conflict in an area where so much of the world's oil is located.
The price of crude oil fell 76 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $109.34 a barrel. Oil had climbed as high as $112 earlier this week.
Despite the news out of Syria, it remains a mostly quiet week for stocks as traders wind down the last week of summer and head into the long holiday weekend. Midday trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange was roughly 1.3 billion shares, far below the roughly 3.4 billion shares typically traded daily.
Wilbanks said he doesn't expect the market to move substantially higher from these levels, citing the mediocre second-quarter earnings that U.S. companies just finished reporting.
"We're going to need to see robust corporate profit growth to move the market higher," he said.
In other corporate news, teen clothing store operator Guess jumped $3.56, or 13 percent, to $30.87 after the company reported second-quarter profit and revenue late Wednesday that blew past the expectations of Wall Street analysts. The retailer also raised its profit forecast for the year.
Campbell Soup fell $1.17, or 3.3 percent, to $43.55 after posting a loss for its fiscal fourth quarter. The company's results were dragged down by a charge related to the potential sale of a European business. While the results topped Wall Street's estimates, revenue missed expectations.