New York - US stocks on Friday opened higher after the commerce department said third-quarter US gross domestic product grew much faster than previously estimated.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 51.30 points (0.32%) to 16 230.38 shortly after the bell.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 4.43 (0.24%) to 1 814.03, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 11.16 (0.28%) to 4 069.30.
The GDP report, the third and final estimate for the third quarter, put growth at 4.1% instead of the previously estimated 3.6%.
The department said consumer spending that was much stronger than initially believed led the revised estimate.
The GDP report came just days after the US Federal Reserve scaled back its stimulus programme after determining that the US economy had improved sufficiently for a modest taper to Fed bond-buying.
The GDP revision "makes the Fed's tapering decision look pretty timely in hindsight," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.