U.S. stocks trade higher after upbeat data

NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday as economic data from the country came out overall positive.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 85.30 points, or 0.32 percent, to 26,478.09. The S&P 500 increased 14.19 points, or 0.50 percent, to 2,853.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 46.96 points, or 0.63 percent, to 7,458.13.

U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, slightly lower than economists' expectations, according to the final revision of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday.

Analysts were mainly optimistic about the GDP data as it was held back mostly by the increasing imports due to strong consumer spending, which indicated a healthy economic activity.

The Commerce Department also reported on Friday that orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose 2.9 percent in December, the fastest pace since June 2017 and also beat market expectations.

Meanwhile, Wall Street continued to monitor the latest corporate earnings reports. Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported as of Friday, 77 percent have reported better-than-expected earnings while 79 percent have surpassed sales estimates, according to U.S. financial information company FactSet. Enditem