1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end higher amid GDP report

U.S. stocks posted modest gains Friday, with all the three major indices snapping their four-day losing streaks, as investors were digesting the final revision to the fourth quarter real gross domestic product (GDP).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.43 points, or 0.19 percent, to 17,712.66. The S&P 500 rose 4.87 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,061.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 27.86 points, or 0.57 percent, to 4,891.22.

The U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, unchanged from the second estimate released last month, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Friday.

The GDP growth stays unrevised due to the larger-than-expected increases in exports and personal consumption expenditures and smaller-than-estimated change in private inventories, according to the report.

U.S. quarterly corporate profits over the same period fell for the first time since 2008. Profits from current production decreased 30.4 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2014, in contrast to an increase of 64.5 billion dollars in the third quarter.

"The relative weakness in Q4 has carried over to the first quarter of this year, with the Atlanta Fed's GDP tracker currently projecting a 0.2 percent GDP growth for Q1 2015. It is crucial to see whether Q1 weakness will prove 'transitory' as it did in 2014 or if the slowdown influences business investment and hiring in the second quarter," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded in late March. The final Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index ended March at 93.0, up 1.8 points from mid-month March of 91.2.

Shortly before closing bell on Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on a conference sponsored by the San Francisco Fed, continued improvement in the U.S. economy means a rate hike could come later this year. But Yellen stressed that any rate increases would likely be very gradual.

Analysts said it seems like anytime Yellen talks the market wants to go up.

Despite Friday's modest gains, U.S. equities suffered big losses for the week with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq falling 2.3 percent, 2.2 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Endite